Bismarck

"Yes, I have been monitoring it." Yan Zhan also nodded. She was not a little girl, but she felt a little uncomfortable.

but…

Looking at the captain in front of him who seemed to be laughing heartlessly, War-weary knew in his heart that Cunningham was the one under the greatest pressure...

Warspite began to move. In short, although this time I have to overhaul and can no longer go to the battlefield, I can at least help my own admiral and do the work of the headquarters first...

"The cruiser Kent reports that they cannot catch up with the Zeppelin and are changing course to due north. They plan to set up a cordon between the Zeppelin and our aircraft carriers and use radar to provide early warning and pre-warning command for our carrier-based aircraft..."

"Well, tell them that if they find out, report directly to Lister!"

"Yes!"

--

"Report! The German reconnaissance plane has been shot down by our patrol fighters, but they sent a radio signal before the shot down, which should be the intelligence sent back!"

In the command room of the aircraft carrier Indefatigable, someone was reporting to Rear Admiral Lister who was holding the microphone.

"Oh, they know, it's no big deal."

Shaking his hands, Lister let the man leave without any care and continued chatting with the person on the other end of the microphone.

If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beams will be crooked too. Liszt is also a heartless idiot.

Although, the conversation on the phone was completely business-like...

"…Have you counted the number of planes that have landed? How much do we have left? How long will it take to prepare for the next sortie?"

"Just counted. We lost or seriously damaged nine F4Fs and fourteen SBDs this time. Now we have about twelve Sea Spitfires and twelve SBDs that can be deployed immediately, as well as twelve Swordfish on the Hermes deck... In addition, the flight deck has just completed the recovery of the first attack wave. The 'Flight Boss (Aircraft Carrier Hangar-Flight Deck Dispatcher)' said that the earliest we can launch the second wave of aircraft is between : and :..."

"In addition, according to the intelligence collected by the cruisers about the deployment of Zeppelin, Zeppelin is probably using the tactics of small-group multiple sorties to deal with those cruisers that are easy to deal with... We used the tactics of small-group multiple attacks in the past, so you know that the tactics of small-group multiple attacks have little effect on the efficiency of the flight deck, and basically do not affect their organization of large-scale aircraft groups... But the same aircraft group has very poor attack power, and it is difficult to bomb us. They can only bomb single ships, and they are used as patrol shifts for fighters... Zeppelin is a large aircraft carrier, and we are actually only a medium-sized aircraft carrier. Their deck dispatch efficiency is much higher than ours... It is estimated that if they really want to dispatch a large fleet, it is expected to be dispatched at 7:30..."

On the other end of the phone came a report from the commander of the carrier-based aircraft unit of the USS Indefatigable.

"Okay, I understand. You should prepare as soon as possible. Remember to put the Spitfire on the deck first." Listening to the report from the commander of the carrier-based aircraft, Lister was a little depressed that he could not attack immediately.

After all, a distance of more than 200 kilometers only takes an hour for a fleet of aircraft to fly, and their own dispatch time happened to be one hour later than the Germans...

The deck operation efficiency of large aircraft carriers is indeed not comparable to that of small and medium-sized aircraft carriers...

Even if it was the Vengeance class, the deck area wouldn't be larger than the Indomitable...

So I just don't know when the two Royal Ark II-class ships, the Royal Ark and the Royal Kersey, will be commissioned...

Now, I can only count on those "new toys" I just got...

ps

Chapter 466: Attack Zeppelin

"Target the British aircraft carrier formation! GR186 Wing, attack now!"

Following Zeppelin's order, thirty-four fighter planes, led by the Edelweiss, roared out of the flight deck, formed into an air strike group, and flapped their wings towards the sky.

But there was still one thing before Zeppelin.

"We are still an hour away from the British aircraft carrier, and the British cruiser fleet is not far from us. Although they cannot catch up with us at their speed, they are equipped with radar, and their fleet must have been discovered. Will this allow the British to be prepared?"

It is almost impossible to hide from the radar.

"Also... our current location is already 300 kilometers away from the port of Alexandria. We need to destroy the British aircraft carrier as soon as possible so that we can rush over to reinforce Bismarck and Tirpitz..."

While Zeppelin was assessing the battle situation with some worry and estimating the possible strength of resistance, he led his fleet in the direction of the predicted British aircraft carrier.

In her perception, dozens of kilometers ahead, the three cruisers and six destroyers of the British cruiser fleet, which were positioned between her and the predicted position of the British aircraft carrier, had begun to change their wheel-shaped formation originally suitable for air defense into a single horizontal formation with the widest observation width - a typical vanguard fleet dedicated to searching for the enemy, exchanging fire with the enemy fleet, and increasing the depth of air defense, and even the standard deployment formation of the "Forward Surface Group (SCR)" that can be responsible for night combat!

Three cruisers and six destroyers, for the purpose of air defense early warning, plus radar, the full surveillance width is actually very large...

Although it is not impossible to get around it, they still have an option to bypass this formation.

But if they did this, the distance would increase a lot, and the fuel consumption and time of the aircraft, which was originally a long-distance attack, would not be guaranteed. And even if they bypassed the surface brigade, they would not necessarily not be discovered.

After all, there is something called radar...

The most important thing is that the British aircraft carrier's heading in the intelligence is towards the northwest - this is the same as the heading of the main body, sailing against the wind! The main reason for sailing against the wind is that it is suitable for sending large-scale aircraft groups!

The characteristics of air power are high speed, high attack, and difficult to defend! Therefore, the battle between aircraft carriers is about who strikes first!

"Everyone, pay attention! The enemy has discovered us! All formations, prepare for a forced assault! Try to assault the British aircraft carrier as quickly as possible!"

Opening the close range, Zeppelin in the tactical channel began to give his subordinates a vaccination.

"understand!"

----

The Battle of El Alamein...

The city of Hammam is located at the southwestern end of the entire coastal lake and swamp area that extends for fifty or sixty kilometers from the port of Alexandria. It directly blocks the Alexandria-Matruh railway line and is only five kilometers away from the coastal highway. There is also an open area of ​​swamps and lakes in the middle!

With these points in mind, it is not difficult to understand why there are large numbers of fortified areas around the small town of Matrouh - not only in the small town of Matrouh, but also behind the town, along the roads and railways leading to the port of Alexandria, including on the nearby hills, there are at least three fortified areas.

Although they were well camouflaged, these fortresses were still visible to Bismarck, who was leaning back in a chair and trying hard to focus on the battle situation.

Within a certain range, the battlefield is almost one-way transparent to oneself.

Although, Bismarck was already in full command of the bombardment - all she was doing now was marking the fortresses on the map and letting Hyde help.

Even without her participation, the accuracy of the artillery attack on fixed targets was still no problem. She was also very tired, so she took the opportunity to be lazy, and after Lütjens's consent, she handed it over to Hyde.

Bismarck really wanted to sleep. After all, he had experienced a great war. But now was not the time to rest. This was the most critical moment and he could not fail.

Lütjens, Tirpitz, Zeppelin and the like cannot be imprisoned in the Mediterranean or even brought to a military court.

However, if Zeppelin was brought to a military court, Bismarck thought, the armor of the aircraft carrier was not thick, but it was also impenetrable by bullets, so he would probably need to be executed by cannon?

So hold on a little longer...

I just don't know what the next plan is...

The Fox was being too slow, and Bismarck was already impatient to attack.

After taking a look at her captain who was "talking on the radio" with Rommel, Bismarck secretly stretched out her ear...

"...So I actually didn't think about taking this route. I just wanted to ensure the smooth flow of the coastal highway and the eight-kilometer gap between the seawall highway and Mount Alanhafa, as well as use a small number of feint attack forces on the south bank of the wetland to contain the enemy... In order to ensure the success of the attack, this place is a key defense point that must be taken! Moreover, the British howitzer position in this stronghold poses a great threat to us, so I implore General Lütjens to use naval gun firepower to take it out, at least before the British send their reinforcements into the battlefield. I estimate that the British reinforcements will arrive at the battlefield no later than noon..."

Rommel's voice was heard from the radio channel.

"…I have no problem with that, although we need to save our ammunition. The earliest reinforcement fleet will not arrive at the battlefield until tomorrow morning, but we will try our best to do everything, including supporting the main attack in the direction of the seawall as you requested, and covering your capture of Hammam Village..." The captain also grabbed the microphone and talked official nonsense with Fox: "The only request is that you can send more fighters over. The British air raids are too frequent!"

Well... Bismarck was also a little depressed. He was already seriously injured and had difficulty moving, and the British planes kept coming in waves. The feeling of endless arrival was really disgusting.

If this place wasn't close to the shore, the anti-aircraft firepower of the army on the shore was more or less a blocking line, and if a certain hamster was using the last of her remaining ammunition to shoot desperately, I wouldn't just be hit by a few bombs...

Although the Italian ship had been hit by more than ten bombs and its superstructure had been blown into black...as for Italy, the destroyer Pilot was now leaning diagonally on the shoal near the coast, with a big hole on the rear bridge that was shocking!

However, even the Italian Navy still had a strong fighting spirit and initiative in their light battleship formation! The surviving sailors seemed to be repairing the front main guns that could still be used, and planned to stay on the beach as a water artillery to support the army on the shore!

After taking another look at the tenacious pilot, Bismarck felt a little dizzy and leaned back in his chair, taking advantage of the break in the battle to take a rest.

Over there, Fox is still on the phone with the captain...

"…Our main attack direction is still the seawall. In this way, we can cover each other and the fighter units can also concentrate on defense! However, the current dispatch rate at Deba Airport has reached its limit... So, I will start the attack from the seawall at nine o'clock and try to enter Alexandria Port as soon as possible. However, there is a big problem with the artillery in the port, and I may have to trouble you again..."

"...Okay, but the artillery and air superiority issues still require the power of the Zeppelin. The Zeppelin is now fighting against the British aircraft carriers 300 kilometers away. If there is no problem, I will call them back later."

After a long silence, a voice came from the radio: "Thank you!" and the call ended. Lütjens could tell that Rommel was smiling bitterly.

But he was also smiling bitterly. Lütjens shook his head, turned around, glanced at Bismarck who had his eyes closed, and shouted in a low voice: "Where is the communications staff? Help me send a telegram to Bonte..."

--

"Damn it! It's a proximity fuse!" Zeppelin's face changed, and he shouted loudly through the tactical channel: "Everyone! Be careful to avoid it!!"

Before he finished his words, another hail of bullets came towards the German aircraft group led by Zeppelin!

A JU-87 carrying a heavy bomb, flying at an altitude of meters, was unable to evade and was accurately blown up by a cluster of fireworks not far in front of it! The flying shrapnel turned the plane into a hornet's nest like a storm! Zeppelin could even see that the pilot's cockpit had been completely pierced by a piece of shrapnel...

The British aircraft carrier formation was composed of the armored aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable, the light carrier HMS Hermes, two Dido-class ships, six destroyers, and twelve Sea Spitfire fighters that had been entangled with the enemy until now under the guidance and call of the British cruiser team that had advanced forward.

Although the twelve Sea Spitfires were only slightly troublesome opponents for the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, Zeppelin could only bring eight BF-109s into battle, but with the cheating Edelweiss early warning and command fighters, a group of pilots with a historical record of over 133 kills (Grislavsky 158, Marseille ), driving aircraft with basically equal or even slightly superior performance, they took the initiative to fight and played a seamless tactical coordination. The numerical advantage of twelve to eight turned into nine to seven in the first encounter, and then they were chased by Zeppelin everywhere.

The only slightly troublesome problem is that the Spitfire's speed and climb rate are not much worse than those of the BF-109...

After breaking through the interception of German fighter planes, these Spitfires, relying on their almost equal speed, rushed into the German bomber group more than ten or twenty kilometers behind them. Relying on the powerful firepower of four Hispano 20 machine guns, they shot down five Stukas and an FW-190 equipped with torpedoes.

Although he was later caught up by Zeppelin and killed...

However, Zeppelin never expected that the British were also equipped with VT fuses! !

Although it doesn't seem to be equipped on every ship, it seems that only warships equipped with the latest artillery have this. For example, the two Dido-class ships have twenty-four 133mm anti-aircraft guns, and the eight 114mm anti-aircraft guns on each side of the Indomitable, while the destroyers' 120mm guns don't seem to be equipped yet...

But...it is a VT fuse after all!

Zeppelin himself was a little scared.

If she had not rushed to the front and entered the range of the British ship-borne anti-aircraft guns while chasing a British fighter plane that was trying to escape back to the fire cover of the British battleship, she really would not have known that the British actually had VT fuses!

If it weren't for her battle instincts cultivated through hundreds of battles, and her strong fighter control ability as a ship girl, she would have avoided the shrapnel attack range by relying on an extreme overload maneuver that could almost tear the wing off the plane...

Right now, there are still several eyes on the tail of my fighter plane!

Moreover, just three hours ago, when attacking Queen Elizabeth, even the 102mm anti-aircraft guns of Warhate didn't use this thing...

However, now is not the time to think about these things! Whether it is because only the new anti-aircraft guns are equipped, or Warspite was seriously injured at the time, it doesn't matter. What matters is that his fleet and his subordinates are being bombarded by this thing!

The remaining aircraft had been deployed according to the training requirements and began to enter the attack route. The opposing British fleet had the capability to deliver a barrage of up to 600 to 700 rounds per minute with its large-caliber anti-aircraft guns alone!

Even though we knew about the VT fuze when we first started at the shipyard, we had already estimated how to command the fleet to deal with it when we might encounter it, and we had also taken them through relevant tactical training. Even now, most of the fleet's reactions were instinctive reactions from strict training. But...

There is actually a huge gap between the estimates on the training ground and the brutal actual combat on the battlefield!

Especially when carrier-based aircraft penetrate a heavily guarded fleet, a large part of the factor depends on luck!

After all, at the high speed of the artillery shell, any evasion is useless, and no one knows what is coming up from below.

And today, Zeppelin's luck was obviously a bit bad!

Under the continuous artillery fire, one after another JU-87 and even FW-190, which were carrying heavy bombs and trying to avoid the barrage of bullets by making small changes of direction, were hit with holes full of smoke!

Two JU-87s and one FW-190 have already turned into a column of smoke or a fireball and been submerged in this deadly fireworks!

And now, the fleet is still six or seven kilometers away! It will even take several more minutes for the bombers and torpedo planes to get close enough to drop bombs!

There were only a few Spitfires left in the sky, but Zeppelin could see clearly: on the decks of the armored aircraft carrier Indomitable and the light carrier Hermes, neatly arranged British aircraft groups were beginning to take off forcefully!

These planes…if I guessed correctly, they must be going to bomb my main body! ! Zeppelin gritted his teeth and pushed the joystick to the top!

"Fighters, keep covering me at high altitude! Spread the dive bombers and FW-190s further apart! Also, dive! Drop water-skimming bombs close to the sea surface! This is the only way!"

"Also, come a few people! Come with me to intercept the plane they just released!"

As Zeppelin spoke, the Edelweiss fighter adjusted its course and rushed towards the British fleet, 315 degrees northwest, at a crazy speed!

Behind her, several BF-109 fighters were also diving with her! And further back, the remaining carrier-based aircraft were still holding on, rushing towards that damn British aircraft carrier!

Among this group of bombers, in the cockpit of the JU-87 that was at the front of the entire team, Rudel held the joystick tightly, staring at the sight without blinking!

The huge body of the Indomitable aircraft carrier began to grow larger and larger in the halo...

Chapter 467: The Final Madness

Dense barrages of bullets flew past the fleet, bringing with them a whistling sound of air currents!

And as the distance rapidly shortened, the British light anti-aircraft guns also began to join in the air shooting!

One after another, planes were punched with holes, leaving black smoke and crashing into the blue sea...

"…Fortunately, it seems that there are no medium-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns with a range of about 4,000 meters, otherwise it would be really troublesome…"

While maintaining a somewhat hysterical evasive action and diving down towards the target, Rudel couldn't help but think of how strict the training requirements of his "Iceberg Ghost" were for them...

Although Zeppelin's training requirement for them at the beginning was to be able to break through the Atlantic Fleet's own interception fire network of the same level... a group of people at that time were still complaining that this was too much to ask.

After all, how could there be a battleship in reality whose main guns can achieve a 20% hit rate in anti-aircraft shooting at a range of 100 kilometers?

However, on Crete, after everyone saw with their own eyes that the 20 main gun could kill an enemy with one shot at a distance of 381 kilometers, no one had any complaints anymore...

The only problem is that this kind of low-altitude, high-speed dive attack doesn’t have enough penetration in normal mode, and the water-floating bombs have to stay on course, so they are more likely to be shot down…

(This mode can actually be used in the Falklands War, against destroyers and frigates carrying early anti-aircraft missiles... @Coventry destroyer, @Da Dao frigate)

However, if there are only large-caliber anti-aircraft guns and no medium-caliber continuous-fire anti-aircraft guns like the ones we have, we will not be afraid!