Bismarck

"...We need to free at least one of the Grape and Zeppelin...Bismarck, can you still hold on?"

"I'm fine..."

Bismarck gritted his teeth and said that he had no choice now.

At this time, a large group of aircrafts flying from the depths of the Nile Delta had already appeared in Tizi's field of vision...

At dawn, under the blue sky, the dawn light and bombs fell from the sky!

Chapter 458: Blow Him Up

Borg el-Arab Airport, 40 kilometers away from the battlefield; Alexandria Airport, 80 kilometers away; Damanhur and Rashid Airport, 130 kilometers away; Tanta Airport, 170 kilometers away; Cairo Airport (three airports) and Benha Airport, 200 kilometers away; Bilbeis Airport, Gabriel Airport, Mansoura Airport, 240 kilometers away; Ismailia Airport, 300 kilometers away; and Fayed Airport, 320 kilometers away...

British fighter planes took off from fourteen airports - including the Alexandria Airport that had been bombed by Barr before, and the Borg el-Arab Airport that had been included in the range of the 380 main guns. The British still took the time to take off some planes - a black mass of planes, like a swarm of locusts, under the cover of the morning sun, pounced fiercely on the Alamein battlefield from all directions!

Under the buzzing wings of these locusts, Auchinleck took the initiative. In addition to the Indian Fourth Division, which had already begun to collapse, the 25,000 men and 290 tanks of the British First Armored Division and the British Seventh Armored Division on the front, under the cover of 80 heavy artillery, began to attack the positions of the African Corps, which had temporarily laid minefields! The more than 10,000 Australian Sixth Division outflanked the rear of the main force of the African Corps, trying to surround the rear of the African Corps!

-

"Everyone listen up! This is Captain Edward Newman, commander of the 27st Squadron of the JG-109 Fighter Wing!" In the cockpit of a BF-F fighter painted with an Iron Cross, the German Air Force commander was calling his men from three fighter squadrons: "The enemy is strong! But we must do it at all costs! In addition, if we can't hold on, we will break away from the Army's anti-aircraft artillery positions or the sky above the Tirpitz battleship. Their anti-aircraft firepower will cover us - for victory! Now, follow me, charge together!"

"For victory!!"

"Rush!!"

Thirty-six fighters from three squadrons spread out and bravely charged towards a group of aircraft that was ten times their number!! Even if they only had one-tenth of the enemy's number, even if they didn't expect to be able to do anything to the British, but... at least they had to cause them as much damage as possible!!

A brutal air battle broke out under the rising sun...

On the other side, Bar, who was fighting and retreating from the sky above Alexandria Airport, led his remaining 31 fighters and also retreated in the direction of the battleship Tirpitz...

Similarly, a group of British aircraft were also rushing towards Tirpitz from the African continent!

"Rudolf! Did you hear that? Please answer if you heard it!" Pulled onto the red No. 190 FW fighter jet at an altitude of meters, Bal observed the battle situation while calling his companions.

"Rudolph heard! Captain, what's up?"

"Do you see that large group of twin-engine planes flying low? The formation and flight path look like torpedo planes - go down! Attack them!"

"Rudolph understands!"

but…

"Captain! Behind us! The British fighter planes covering the two airports here are still behind us!!"

This voice...is Novotny's call!

"Got it. You take care of the high altitude, and I'll cover the mid-air!"

Although the BF109T2, or the corresponding BF109F2, the main equipment of the German Air Force, is slightly stronger than the British Spitfire V fighter, and Bal is also absolutely confident in his men.

But...two fists are no match for four hands!

The seventeen Spitfire fighters following behind him looked like a piece of disgusting taffy! In front of him, more than ten British fighters were divided into several pairs of squadrons, forming a front-to-back, wide-to-narrow, low-to-high air combat formation in the air, and they were heading straight for the space between him and the British bomber squadron!

Double-teaming from the front and back, there is no time to adjust tactics!

and…

There were more planes behind them. Iron wings that covered the sky and the sun kept pressing up towards the sky above the Alamein battlefield!

"Tsk, how can the British have so many planes!" Barr spat and turned on the radio...

"The Zeppelin and Bismarck are both protected by the Italian fleet. Now only the Tirpitz is in danger - Brothers! Protect the Tirpitz!!"

Bal's roar was heard over the radio of the GR186 fighter jet.

The remaining fighter planes also mustered up their remaining courage and followed Barr to rush towards the British bomber group!

Although among the armies of both sides on the battlefield, only Bismarck, who had been lying in Lütjens' arms and quietly listening to the battle reports on the radio, knew that in history, this scene would become the daily norm for the Third Reich Air Force two and a half years later...

Looking up at the sky above him, Zeppelin's Edelweiss fighter was still soaring alone but proudly, heading towards the British-controlled Rashid Air Force Base from the east. Under the cover of the morning glow, a group of more than 30 British aircraft were rushing towards him...

And the captain's command came to my ears...

"Order: Anti-aircraft guns concentrate their firepower and give priority to attacking British torpedo planes! In addition, in the name of the command of the German-Italian joint fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean theater, order the Italian destroyers to advance to the left side of the Bismarck battleship! At the same time, order the Italian cruisers to hold the line and form an air defense formation!" "Yes!!"

I couldn't help but sigh...

The battlefield is so cruel... I had just driven away the War-weary enemy with my own battleship, which was already seriously injured, and within ten minutes, twelve fighter planes, nine torpedo planes, and nine dive bombers arrived...

It seems that I have to correct the error myself...

Although, calculating the complex and fast trajectory of bombers is more energy-consuming than the parameters that need to be corrected for sea strikes...

"Full left! Turn around!"

Taking advantage of the few minutes when the British aircraft group had not yet arrived at the battlefield, Lindemann, with a solemn expression, directly ordered the battleship Tirpitz to make a 180-degree turn!

We have no choice but to turn around. If we drive a few kilometers ahead, we will be within the firing range of the artillery batteries of the Alexandria Port Fortress!

Tizi didn't say anything. After all, the helmsman could do a good job of turning around. The only problem was... when the air raid came, there would be bullets and such, which was very annoying...

But there is no other way… If I don’t cause trouble for myself, then Lindemann, my sister, the commander, and the fighter planes that are fighting a desperate air battle with the British aircraft above my head will probably be in more trouble… That’s why I hate trouble the most!!!

"Hate it!!!" Tizi, who was already going crazy, couldn't help but yelled, which scared Lindemann. But just when Lindemann was startled, the 105mm anti-aircraft gun outside the window fired a shot, and less than half a minute later, two British bombers in the distance, dragging thick smoke, plunged towards the sand embankment road by the Mediterranean Sea!

"Haha, although you scared me, you did a great job!" Lindman smiled and gently stroked the hamster's pink fur, but he didn't dare to tease it too much. After all, there was a powerful enemy at hand, and what if the hamster got angry again...

However, according to the radar soldiers' report, this first wave of aircraft, about twenty-four in number, roughly the strength of two squadrons, were spreading out in all directions, seemingly trying to launch a cross-attack on the battleship Tirpitz - and from the call sign it seemed that these were some British twin-engine heavy fighters carrying bombs, trying to launch a high-speed, low-altitude raid or something?

And there seemed to be more British planes in the rear! The dense radar echoes made it difficult for the Tirpitz's radar to see the target clearly!

Although the German fighters in the sky - from the call signs on the radio, including the carrier-based aircraft of the GR186 wing and the air force fighters of the JG27 wing, were attacking desperately, but there were more British planes! Soon, the German aircraft group was besieged by the wolf-like British fighters and had to use more energy to protect themselves...

The British aircraft fleet that broke through the German fighter interception line began to disperse and started to attack the lonely Hamster minesweeper from all directions!

Eight handsome fighters carrying bombs rushed towards the right front of the Tirpitz!

"Tizi, there's a plane on the left! Turn left! Be ready to turn right at any time!" Lindemann stood at the air observation position and shouted to Tizi with a microphone - asking Tizi to inform the helmsman of the direction of the turn, and also to cover up the fact that it was actually Tizi who turned the rudder himself!

"Hmm..." Lazy Grapes said weakly in the microphone. At the same time, the anti-aircraft guns on the starboard side of the Tirpitz fired a barrage of bullets, and the 37-round machine guns closer also fired tongues of fire! Even the handsome soldiers who had rushed to more than kilometers at low altitude were killed by the British army under the dense barrage!

However... relying on the speed of 420 kilometers per hour, which is 7 kilometers per minute and nearly 120 meters per second, three handsome fighters still rushed to the distance where they could drop bombs!

Although the next second, these handsome warriors were shot into balls of fire in the dense rain of bullets! However, several 250 kg bombs had already been dropped on the battleship Tirpitz!

Tizi groaned in pain!

"One was hit, one was lost! A 37mm anti-aircraft gun was destroyed, and a small area of ​​the side was flooded!"

"Ring to right!" Lindman was determined to hold back the urge to comfort Tizi, and he didn't have time to do so. He listened to the damage control team report the small-scale damage while giving the order to turn the rudder. Just behind him on the left, more than a dozen handsome fighters flew over! And further back, several groups of British bombers appeared in the sky filled with gunfire...

"Fortunately, the water here is shallow. If the British Air Force didn't have shallow-water torpedoes, they wouldn't be able to launch a torpedo attack. Otherwise, there would be a lot of trouble..."

As he brushed past another row of bombs, Lindman frowned and thought silently.

And, silently pray for the fate of myself and the entire war situation...

------

On the Zeppelin aircraft carrier which had already sailed more than a hundred kilometers, Bangtai wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked down from the steering position of the Zeppelin.

"Captain, the British planes have left...but their cruisers are still following us!" the radar operator reported.

"Okay, I understand." Bangtai nodded and walked towards the chart table.

"Fortunately, I have been requiring myself and my sailors to train strictly, and the effect seems to be very obvious. Otherwise, we would be in a mess now."

Thanks to Bangtai's precise evasive steering, the ship was not injured in this round of air raid. It was only scratched by two near misses and took in a little water, but there was no greater loss. It was really lucky.

After all, with 186 SBDs and fighter interceptors, even if Zeppelin was not there, these dive bombers were no different from turkeys waiting to be slaughtered in front of the GR105 squadron, which was full of aces. Only a few of them broke through the fighter interception zone and flew into the effective range of the 105mm anti-aircraft guns. In fact, the VT fuze shells fired by Zeppelin's mm anti-aircraft guns actually covered the Italian destroyers...

After all, it’s over 3,000 meters above sea level, the speed is no more than 300 kilometers, and it’s a dive bomber flying in a straight line. If you can’t shoot it down, all the previous strict training will be wasted!

but……

"Barr report! Only 19 of the 36 planes are capable of combat now. Seven have been lost. The rest are returning! The fuel and ammunition can only last another five to ten minutes!"

"Grislavsky reports! Four of the seventeen planes were lost, and the fuel and ammunition are still 75% and 60%!"

"Zeppelin reports! We have repelled the British aircraft group that was bombing the Bismarck. The Bismarck was hit by three bombs, but it can still sail! Our ammunition is exhausted and we are about to return!"

Seeing the continuous reports of casualties among fighters, as well as some carrier-based aircraft that had run out of ammunition or were badly damaged flying back from the direction of the Alamein battlefield and preparing for forced landing, Bangtai's brows furrowed...

To his right rear, 40 kilometers away, a British cruiser was still intent on stealing; kilometers to the north, there were three minelayers with a speed of up to knots...

Although he was not afraid of them, if they followed him, he would only be further away from the battlefield of Alamein...

By then……

It seems that I have to find a way to get rid of these two tails...

Bangtai gritted his teeth and opened the microphone cover:

"I'm Bonte! Pass on my order! The entire fleet turns right 30 degrees! Order Major General Dazzara to prepare to start shelling the British minelayers!"

"The flight deck continues to accommodate returning aircraft! But... Four teams of dive bombers! Go to the standby area behind the flight deck! Hang 500KG armor-piercing bombs on me! Prepare for battle! Move out in small groups! Target - the British cruiser fleet!!"

"Give it to me! Blow them up!!"

Chapter 459: Gambling

Excluding the fighters that were now landing one by one, some were badly damaged, some were out of ammunition and fuel, there were still 17 FW-190T fighters and 25 JU-87C2 dive bombers in the hangar of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier.

Now, twelve dive bombers from four squads were quickly lifted by the side elevators to the standby area behind the bridge of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, and the ground crew hurriedly hung 500KG armor-piercing bombs on them.

On the other side of the narrow white line, within a few meters, every now and then, a plane would sway or stumble, half landing and half crashing on the flight deck. The frightened pilots climbed out of the cockpit and jumped onto the deck. Before they could even have a cup of coffee to calm their nerves, their planes were pushed into the front elevator by the ground crew who rushed over...

"Huh...Huh...I'm finally back alive..."

Looking at his comrades who were fighting for the rest of their lives, Captain Hans Ulrich Rudel, who was the squadron leader of the 1st dive bomber squadron, clenched his fists tightly, feeling half anxious and half tired.

"It's just a few British cruisers! I'm going to blow you up later!"

Not only him, but the other pilots around him - dive bomber squadron leader Oscar Tinault, second squadron leader John Helbisi, third squadron leader Walter Engels - all gritted their teeth and clenched their fists tightly!

Thirty-five kilometers away, the captains of the four British light and heavy cruisers, Kent, London, Penelope, and Aurora, suddenly shuddered at the same time for some unknown reason...

-------

On the battlefield of El Alamein, Rommel and his 4,000 officers and soldiers were trembling in the bomb craters, crouching with their heads in their hands, defending themselves...

A team of British bombers finally finished wreaking havoc and flew away, but before they could catch their breath, another round of British bombers flew over their heads, opened their belly ammunition bays and unscrupulously spread large tracts of death and terror towards the edge of the Gobi Desert on the African continent!

They will not stop until they have blown the ball up into the surface of the moon!

"Damn it! These British guys have at least 150 bombers! Will they never stop?!"

Fortunately, Rommel had anticipated early on that these British bastards would definitely use a large number of bombers to organize a "newspaper team" in the opening bombing early in the morning, and take advantage of the last half hour before sunrise to evacuate and hide his troops.

However, Rommel's heart was still bleeding as he listened to the whistling sound of bombs like hailstorms overhead and endured the smoke, flames, and rubble from the bomb explosions...

One hundred and fifty bombers, that means at least one hundred and fifty tons of bombs!

Who knows how much of his limited remaining capital will be wasted in this round of bombing...

"Commander! The British are coming!" The chief of staff crawled to Rommel's side and reported through gritted teeth: "The two British armored divisions in front of us have used minesweepers to clear the way and are pressing towards us! The Australian 6th Division in the south is also encircling us from the south. I don't think our temporary mine barriers and simple positions over there can withstand them for long... Request instructions!"

Rommel opened his mouth and was about to speak when a bomb exploded nearby, pouring a bucket of sand all over his head! He spat twice in his thirsty throat, spitting out large pieces of soil, and kept spitting out the fine gravel stuck in his mouth by his dried saliva, while asking:

"How's the 90th Light Armored Division doing? Has it been bombed?"

"Well... the 90th Light Division and the battleship Tirpitz were also bombed, and the 90th Light Division suffered heavy losses... but the 90th Light Division relied on the strategy of blending in with the Indians and the British, and the British bombing could not stop their pursuit. In addition, the field artillery regiment of the 90th Light Division... this time it was all thanks to them, they continued to fire at the Indian th Division despite the British bombing, and the artillery fire of the Tirpitz, the Indians have not been able to stabilize... Now the Indians are still being pursued by us, and they have made an indelible contribution! It's just the losses..."

"...I will apply to the headquarters for a commendation and a medal later..." Looking at the chief of staff who lowered his head, Rommel felt bad...Medals, medals, any medals, are not as important as surviving...

Although, if you want to win, there must be sacrifices...

Rommel, who had lowered his head, hardened his heart, raised his head again, and began to issue combat instructions:

"Hold on for now. When the 90th Light Division and the Trento Division force the Indian th Division through the cover of Mount Aranhafa, we will prepare to attack! Also, have the Trieste Division re-mine our original safe passage, and have them hurry up with defense - there is a small hill called Quarit Aboud behind the minefield, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and can be used as a support point."

"Yes!" the Chief of Staff shouted.

There is no way, the roar of the bomb is deafening...

"Brothers, hold on a little longer. This round of bombing should be over soon! The only thing to note is that there will definitely be artillery bombardment after the bombing, and then their attack will begin... I predict that they will let the infantry of the 1st Armored Division attack from the front or hold on, and will also open the coastal highway for the Indian 4th Division to retreat, and then let the main force of the British 1st Armored Division attack from the flank, and then the 7th Armored Division will attack our flank!... Contact the Tirpitz for me, if the British attack later, request their firepower support!... As long as we repel the British, we will charge!..."

Although he was verbally giving orders to fight, Fox was also beginning to wonder in his heart if he was too reckless this time...

"Yes!!" The chief of staff seemed to have recovered from his sadness and took the order and left during the break in the bombing.