Bismarck

Bismarck knew that her captain was so worried about the war situation and she also felt a headache. However, out of pity for her captain, she just turned her head slightly, sighed silently, and then made her captain a cup of strong coffee to refresh himself. After putting down the coffee, she also took the cigarette that someone was holding between his fingers and was about to light with a stern face.

Lütjens, who had no cigarette in his hand, was stunned for a moment holding the lighter. Then he remembered that there was a rule on his battleship: smoking is prohibited in the command room...

He looked at the empty fingers, then at the cup of coffee on the table, then at Bismarck who rolled his eyes at him and threw the cigarette directly into the trash can. The admiral who was being controlled could only shake his head and sigh.

Although I am not used to being controlled by others like this, but... why does my cat feel like a housekeeper?

I guess that old guy Cunningham across the street has a similar daily routine.

It turned out that I was thinking so much that I started laughing.

Lütjens shook his head.

But when I think of Cunningham, I think of the forces he has: an aircraft carrier, two new battleships, and other escort carriers around to provide escort fighters - each of those escort carriers should have only one squadron of Spitfires, but also a few Fulmars and so on...

In the previous air battles, although these escorting aircraft carriers suffered some losses, there are still some...wait!

Our position is exposed. Is it possible that the British will send heavy bombers?

The subtext of the air raid that I had not encountered before is, who knows when the air raid will come?

It seems that we have to guard against enemies in the air.

And… Speaking of which, during the tough battle just now, due to the delay in the battle situation, I didn’t have time to reply to Zeppelin and the others about whether to prepare for an airstrike…

With such a big mistake, Lütjens could only helplessly accept it.

It will probably take at least an hour from now until the airstrike is launched, right?

Hope it's not too late...

"Bismarck, let's turn and meet up with Zeppelin, and then the fleet will move forward at a true azimuth of 60 degrees northeast by east - also, let Zeppelin and his men prepare to launch an air strike on the Indefatigable!"

"Yes!" Bismarck nodded and went to send a telegram, leaving Lütjens alone to continue sipping his smoking cessation coffee.

Although Lütjens wanted to make the conservative choice to preserve his strength after weighing the pros and cons in his mind, he knew very well that the Air Force had high offense and low defense, and that a strong offense and weak defense would lead to defeat if the defense lasted for a long time. So he finally chose to destroy the Indefatigable first even if it was risky.

Although there were only three warships on their side, Bismarck, Tirpitz and Prinz Eugen, they could at least deal with some heavy bombers! As for the aircraft carriers that had to sail against the wind to launch an attack and were forced to stand in an unfavorable upwind position, it would depend on whether they could maneuver to get rid of them at night.

Although, I'm afraid we still need to prepare for a surprise attack from Cunningham's assembled forces...

Regarding this matter...let Eugen continue to protect Zeppelin!

……On the sofa in the officer's lounge of the battleship Indefatigable……

"…War-weary…I'm glad you're okay…"

Looking at his wife who had "teleported" back with her wedding ring but was leaning on his shoulder with scars all over her body, Cunningham lowered his head and felt a little guilty.

During such a tough battle, he was not by his wife's side. Although this was a tactical necessity and she had taken the initiative to propose it, but...

While the wedding ship was seriously injured by a powerful enemy and was still struggling to hold on on the battle line, he could only let her retreat to the back of the American battleship and continue to act as an observer - and she had to continue to stay on the battlefield!

At this moment, she was half paralyzed on herself and gasping for breath - two of the four main turrets were destroyed, one was stuck, and her body was hit by twelve bullets. This was almost as bad as the injuries she suffered when she was besieged by the German fleet at that time on the Dreadnought - a total of 22 ships of the High Seas Fleet led by the battleship Friedrich the Great!

After all, the German fleet at that time was equipped with 283 and 305 mm guns, whose penetration and destructive power were much weaker than the two German ships on the opposite side now. Although there were more than ten or twenty rounds, the damage caused was not as great as this time!

And her injuries... are all damage to her body, ordinary medicine is useless!

Although the damage control team has been ordered to repair the ship with all their strength, her pain still exists - even if she returns to me now, all I can do is to accompany her silently and comfort her...

"Hoo...Hoo...I'm fine, honey..."

Following War-weary's weak voice, she raised her hand as if to hold Cunningham's hand. Cunningham was startled when he heard the voice, and almost reflexively reached out to hold War-weary's hand.

"Ma'am, how are you?!"

Seeing his usually carefree captain now sweating profusely from nervousness, War-weary raised his head slightly and smiled faintly:

"…I'm…fine…these…shells…from the German shipmen…can't kill…your wife…"

But this looked like a farewell, and Cunningham was extremely panicked.

The weak War-weary smiled sweetly, and as she spoke, one of her fingers, still weak but somewhat naughty, began to gently scratch Cunningham's palm with a slight tremor.

Although she was seriously injured, her body still had to carry the battle line even now. This was her duty as someone who "despised the hardships of battle."

Seeing his captain's nervous and concerned expression suddenly showing a hint of confusion due to being teased, Yan Zhan smiled, and his smile was a bit playful.

“…God ​​bless…Madam, I’m glad you’re okay…” Seeing War-weary’s smile, Cunningham didn’t say much, but just hugged her tighter.

The seriously injured soldier Yan Zhan also gently closed his eyes and gently leaned his head against Cunningham's cheek. He just moved his lips gently in Cunningham's ear and uttered a weak murmur that seemed to be three parts serious but seven parts coquettish: "They seem to have already headed north to meet Zeppelin... I said, how do you want to help me vent this anger?"

"Don't worry, I have informed the Indian bomber unit, and they should be here soon... In addition, I estimate that they will fight at night, and most likely they want to bypass us and find Giffen's high-speed transport ship!" Cunningham replied softly and faintly to his seriously injured wife Bailey, as if he was afraid that his wife would be hurt. However, he, who was always cynical, had a cold and fierce light in his eyes:

"If we wait until tonight, we can do it together..."

Yan Zhan didn't say anything, but just smiled gently, and nodded slightly while leaning against her own old man's rough face...

Chapter 626: Emergency Takeoff

"Enemy aircraft detected! The echo signal is very strong, it may be a large bomber! ... The direction is due east, 50 degrees to the right front of our fleet! Distance is 150 kilometers! Expected to engage in battle in minutes!"

As the radar soldier shouted, air defense alarms sounded on the four German warships.

To make matters worse, not long after, the radar operator shouted again: "...Report! A new group of aircraft appeared at 65 degrees to our port side, and they are approaching the previous bomber group... The echo signal is relatively small, so it should be a fighter!"

Hearing about the two waves of enemy forces that appeared in succession, Bismarck quickly began to mark on the chart based on the intelligence detected by the radar - based on the course of the British aircraft carrier that had been detected previously, and then reversely calculating along the course of the current group of British carrier-based aircraft, the intersection of the two lines was corrected, and that was the location of the British aircraft carrier!

"How is the attack group now?!"

Lütjens, who knew that the flight deck of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier was full of planes, got a little impatient and started shouting into the tactical VHF radio. Even Bonte and Zeppelin, who were on the other side, seemed to feel that the commander's saliva was spitting out of the microphone from time to time through the radio...

Fortunately, I am not in front of the commander now.

To be honest, there aren't many times like this for Lütjens, but now is the perfect moment.

After all, too much time has been wasted before, and deck preparation is not something that can be done just like that!

Although Zeppelin had sixty aircraft, including thirty-six FW-190s that could perform bombing missions, it looked powerful, but it was not that simple.

First, the maintenance deck is the most vulnerable time for an aircraft carrier. With so many ammunition piled on the deck, the danger is inherently high. If there is a sneak attack, if you are unlucky, a single bomb can destroy the entire aircraft carrier. Therefore, the fighter jets on air defense patrol must be released first.

Second, if the patrol fighter force is insufficient, backup aircraft must be launched; and once the fleet is dispatched for bombing, escort fighters are also required. Therefore, at the front of the runway on the flight deck, a squadron of fighters on standby at any time must first be neatly lined up in the front half of the flight deck, ready to take off at any time.

Third, the fighters on the front deck must be prepared for dual missions - if there is an enemy, they will be air defense, if there is no enemy, they will be escort aircraft for the attack aircraft. But this sentence can be said in reverse, that is, if there is an enemy attack, there will be no one to escort the attack aircraft, and if there is no enemy attack, there will be no aircraft to take over the aircraft carrier's air defense fighters - so, in order to ensure mission turnover, does the standby area on the right side of the runway on the rear half of the flight deck have to be stuffed with another squadron of fighters?

Fourth, the front deck was occupied by fighter planes, and there were only two elevators on the rear deck. The more than 100-meter-long space now had to accommodate more than a dozen attack teams and a whole squadron of fighter planes... Didn't you feel that the space was very narrow? The operation was very cramped?

In fact, one hour was only enough to arrange a half-deck attack - even if the planes were not so full that they filled the entire rear deck, it was still crowded enough.

Fortunately, knowing that time was running out, Bonte and Zeppelin only arranged a half-deck attack - although the only question was whether the attack power of the half-deck attack could break through the interception of the two cutting-edge battleships and the defense of the Indefatigable armored aircraft carrier...

Seeing Zeppelin standing beside him nodding slightly to indicate that there was no problem, Bontai felt a little more relieved.

"Well... we now have twelve BF-109 fighters and sixteen FW-500s with 190 kg bombs ready for takeoff! But we haven't arranged the fighters in the standby area yet..." He was interrupted by Lütjens before he could finish his words:

"There's no time! Take off immediately! Clear the flight deck for anything you haven't finished! ... Bismarck has calculated that the British aircraft carrier is about 75 to 80 degrees to our left, 160 kilometers away! - Also, the backup fighters must be ready quickly! Do you understand?!"

The sound coming out of the microphone was more like a shout than an order, so Bontai quickly pulled the receiver away from his ear. After Lütjens finished shouting, Bontai dared to respond to the microphone: "Understood!!"

Lütjens said nothing, just hummed softly and hung up the radio. Bonte, who had also put down the phone, turned around and called out to Zeppelin, who was walking out with his pilot's helmet on his head:

"Zeppelin, don't lead the team in this attack!"

"What's wrong?" Zeppelin, who was about to lead the team to attack, stopped and turned to look at Bangtai in confusion, not knowing what he meant.

"Their aircraft carriers have suffered heavy losses before, but they still have attack power, and there must be planes on the light aircraft carriers in their escort fleet..." Bangtai frowned, stared at Zeppelin, and said word by word: "...We are no more than 160 kilometers away from their aircraft carriers and escort fleet, so you and the remaining fighters must stay on the flight deck and be on standby at all times. Be careful that they will take advantage of us to intercept the heavy bombers to launch a sneak attack! If they succeed in the sneak attack, we will be finished."

And Zeppelin was finished.

"Yeah! I understand!" After hearing Bontai's explanation, Zeppelin, who knew how powerful he was, nodded. Then he turned around and picked up the microphone: "... Ground crew, push Marseille's plane and my plane to the side! Everyone else, take off now!"

"understand!"

---

The clouds that were rolling up into the sky under the support of the rising air currents had begun to become dark and dense. In many places, the clouds had even begun to thunder and lightning due to the strong convection rising from the sea! On this stormy sea, a group of German BF-109T2 fighters, lined up in pairs, flew from the sky above their aircraft carriers towards the British aircraft group attacking from the east!

At their feet, the Zeppelin aircraft carrier was maintaining a formation speed of 33.5 knots on the mottled deep blue sea, launching carrier-based aircraft one after another - sixteen FW-500T fighters carrying 190 kg semi-armor-piercing bombs, and ten escorting BF-109T2 fighters. They had just left the flight deck, retracted their landing gear, and faced the strong side wind. They swayed their wings between the sea and the sky, gradually increasing their altitude, heading southwest towards the direction of the Allied aircraft carriers, and between the towering clouds and mountains caused by the updrafts, flying higher and higher, and farther and farther...

While these planes were taking off from the flight deck one by one, the side elevators on the rear deck of the Zeppelin were also not idle. The large elevators could lift two FW-190 carrier-based aircraft with folded wings at a time, and the side preparation area independent of the runway allowed these fighters to be lifted and turned degrees with the help of the ground crew trailers, and then lined up at the front and rear ends of the preparation area one by one, waiting for the next wave of sorties.

After most of the planes on the flight deck that were carrying out bombing missions had taken off, some of the planes in the maintenance area began to be pushed out by the ground crew and lined up on the empty runway. In front of these planes were the white Edelweiss, which was pushed back by the ground crew from the temporary parking area beside the bow runway, and the two BF-109s with the yellow number next to her!

This is the vehicle of GR-186's wing commander, Miss Zeppelin, and her wingman Marseille!

In the command room of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, even though Bontai was a veteran of many battles, he was facing a powerful enemy and was holding the microphone nervously. He was looking at the oversized vertical chart board that had been modified to meet the needs of air combat command, and was calculating the command and deployment of air defense operations.

Beside him, looking out through the porthole equipped with bulletproof glass, he saw the gray-black figures of the three friendly ships Bismarck, Tirpitz and Prinz Eugen, which had been arranged in an anti-aircraft fan formation. At this distance, those powerful warships made of steel looked like just small figures.

Bangtai looked out from the bridge and saw the scene on the deck. The sailors were busy and the fighter planes were taking off rapidly. Including his own Zeppelin, the red swastika mark on the deck that was originally as conspicuous as a living target had long been covered up by the white, blue and black Indian Ocean camouflage!

Although this cannot guarantee that you will not be discovered, it can at least create a visual illusion for Allied pilots in the sky and reduce their hit rate, right?

On the Zeppelin’s chartboard, sixty kilometers away, twelve BF-109 fighters providing air cover, led by the rising star ace pilot squadron leader Hermann Graf, collided head-on with the dense black mass of fifty-four twin-engine Blenheims and Handsome Warriors loaded with bombs and torpedoes, and the twelve Spitfires that took off from the Indefatigable aircraft carrier to provide escort for the fleet at an altitude of five thousand meters...

And at the same time...

"…Radar report from the battleship Prinz Eugen! Two small-scale low-altitude aircraft groups were spotted 70 kilometers away!!…"

Chapter 627: Bravely Entering the Land of Death

The light and shadows in the sky were somewhat mottled, and the tropical updrafts and the cold winds blowing from the continent made the dark gray cloud mountains even taller and more majestic. However, the occasional rumbling thunder and flashes of lightning in the clouds made these already eerie cloud mountains appear even more violent and uneasy, and shaky...

The tracer bullets' trajectories flickered among the sparks, explosions, and billowing black smoke. The tail clouds of the war eagles drew circles one after another in various strenuous maneuvers. Between the dark gray clouds and mountains, the white tail clouds, the black smoke, and the various colored tracer bullets' trajectories drew intertwined straight lines and arcs, binding the clouds and mountains together. Add to that the red and black embellishments that symbolize the explosions, and it's like a landscape painting by a Western impressionist painter using the most suitable Chinese ink painting method for artistic conception...

However, the pilots in this magnificent work with the sky as their canvas certainly have neither the time nor the mood to appreciate the true meaning of beauty... After all, this is a scene that they have created using their combat skills and risking their lives!

Under the interception of German fighter planes and in the increasingly thick clouds, in order to have a better view and a faster attack speed, the British bombers in the high sky all began to lower their altitude, using potential energy and gravity to accelerate their planes.

A distance of sixty kilometers only takes eight minutes for these planes that have accelerated to over 400 kilometers!

The Blenheim bombers were in the middle of the wide attack surface. Although as high-speed bombers they could easily accelerate to a speed of 432 kilometers, their armor was relatively weak, and their rear-firing self-defense firepower was only a 7.7mm light machine gun, so they were not difficult to deal with.

But on both sides of the Blenheim fleet, handsome fighters with torpedoes and bombs were following the Blenheims closely, relying on their sturdy fuselages to protect the Blenheims in the middle! And above the heads of these heavy knights fearlessly charging at the terrifying deep-sea monsters in the ocean were the Spitfire fighters that protected them, just like the angels protecting the paladins in the Bible, driving away the dark and hideous evil spirit accomplices for these fearless knights...

Although there were only twelve Spitfires taking off from the Indefatigable, they were evenly matched with the German interception fleet - and these German fighters had to give priority to intercepting the fifty or sixty bombers, and they were suddenly put on the defensive!

In particular, although the handsome warriors at the outer level are short, thick and ugly, their defense is not much worse than the Wellington, which is known as the iron plane! And the Blenheim in the middle is thin in skin and large in filling, but it is difficult to attack the Blenheim under the pursuit of the Spitfire and the obstruction of the cakes!

Not to mention, the pilots of the GR-186 Squadron, who were extremely experienced in actual combat, knew very well that those ships were as fast as the wind, and they also carried torpedoes and bombs. In addition, the fierce firepower of the four Hispano 20mm machine guns on the front would not be at a disadvantage even if they were facing light anti-aircraft guns head-on. They were also a serious threat to the anti-aircraft firepower of Bismarck, Tirpitz, and Prinz Eugen...

Although the BF-109 fighters had been thoroughly improved when they were first equipped on the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, and the two useless MG17 light machine guns were removed, and the ammunition load of the central axis MG151-20 aircraft cannon was increased to more than 200 rounds after the installation of a double-stage supercharger and intercooler and even aftercooler, they were still somewhat stretched in the face of so many enemies...

Soon, the news of the German pilots running out of ammunition came out one after another on their tactical radios...

"Damn it! We've run out of bullets, but this damn thing hasn't been shot down yet..."

"That's because you're a terrible shooter. Look at Captain Grislavsky, he specializes in shooting at other people's engines... (click)... Damn it, I'm out of ammunition!"

"Captain, we request a retreat...!"

"…Damn, there are so many British planes… (boom, boom, boom)…Wait, aren't there more than 200 rounds? How come you've finished firing?"

"Captain, do you think we are super aces like you with hundreds of victories? A random burst of fire can destroy an engine... This damn British cake is too strong. It can't be destroyed unless you hit it with more than ten or twenty rounds... (Dududududu-boom!) Uh ah..."

"Richter!?"

"Captain... I can't do it anymore... Adrian... remember to report it to me next time..."

“Damn it! I’ll avenge you now!! (Bang bang bang…click)…Asshole! I’m out of ammunition…”

"Grislavsky, hold on! I've asked Novotny to bring a plane to support you!"

The cold voice on the radio could not hide the worry and anxiety, which really warmed people's hearts. However, Grislavsky, who was evacuating, was stunned. Novotny was driving a FW-190, right? Such a short time was not enough for them to climb... and the British had flamethrowers at high altitude... When he thought of this, Grislavsky's face changed instantly:

"All planes with ammunition left, get on the Spitfires! Now!"

In front of the British bomber fleet, six FW-190s that had just barely climbed to the bottom of the -meter cloud layer had already stumbled out from the bottom of the cloud - and they were already the last interception line for the four German warships that were urgently turning towards the cloud and rain area not far behind!

Zeppelin, Marseille and the other six FW-190s now had to deal with another group of British carrier-based attack aircraft that took advantage of the chaos to steal and rob, as well as Spitfires and Fulmars carrying bombs that took off from escort aircraft carriers...

Fortunately, in order to ensure the surprise of the other group of surprise attack planes, except for the eight Spitfires that were climbing, the other attack planes were flying at low altitudes...

---

On the other side of the cloud, another brutal air battle was unfolding...

The last twelve Spitfires left by the Indefatigable as escorts fought hard against the ten BF-109s led by Hermann Graf. The other sixteen FW-190s carrying bombs took the opportunity to break through the interception line of the British fighters, lined up, and advanced towards the fierce fire of the new American battleships! When the British fighters saw that their interception was broken, they turned around and chased after them!

The pilots of these FW-500s carrying 190 kg bombs were all dive bomber pilots selected from the JU-87 Squadron. This time, the team was led by Hans Rudel, Johann Helbisi and Walter Engels, three captain-level dive bomber aces!

The FW-190 fighter had a very strong dive performance, and the FW-190T was a multi-purpose fighter that could carry torpedoes and 500KG bombs and perform torpedo and dive bombing missions. Because of this, Zeppelin simply asked his dive bomber pilots - as long as their bodies passed the physical examination and met the requirements for driving a fighter - to also undergo FW-190 fighter driving training!