Bismarck

but……

At this moment, in the sky over this sea area, what was coming out of the tactical radio stations of the most elite group of the German Air Force was not the news of shooting down enemy planes, but one after another of unwilling complaints.

The reason is simple: the enemy plane is too fast!

Made of lightweight yet sturdy spruce plywood, the De Havilland Mosquito fighter-bomber has a maximum speed of over 7300 km/h at an altitude of 610 meters, and a maximum speed of nearly 4000 km/h at an altitude of 600 meters. The maximum climb rate at sea level is 760 meters/minute. It is a high-speed fighter-bomber (1942 B.IV model) that takes the idea of ​​speed equal to penetration capability to the extreme! This aircraft can maintain a certain flight speed even if one engine is shut down! This is incredible.

Moreover, even at high speeds, this light but sturdy wooden aircraft can still ensure a certain degree of maneuverability. Although it does not have a tail turret, its powerful firepower of four 20mm cannons and four 7.7mm light machine guns on the front, as well as its ability to carry more than one ton of bombs inside the magazine, are a serious threat both in terms of air combat and penetration!

Although this type of aircraft had already been put into use in air combat on the European continent, and Zeppelin had received internal reports from the German Air Force that mentioned this abnormal wooden aircraft, it was the first time for the GR-186 wing to fight against this type of enemy aircraft. And as soon as they fought, these plywood mosquitoes used their speed to give a big fright to the super ace pilots of the GR-186 wing, including Zeppelin!

Relying on an extremely high speed that was almost a level faster than the Spitfire, the old rival of the German Air Force, after a head-on interception, the German fighters, including the Zeppelin, were suddenly shocked to find that even though their own vehicles had been "magically modified" - or "blessed" (?) - by their own instructors, it was extremely difficult to catch up with this twin-engine aircraft that they had only heard of occasionally in combat briefings but had never actually seen!

Although the twin-engine "Mosquito" was a whole circle larger than the single-engine BF-109 and FW-190, the tactical maneuvers of dodging the powerful frontal firepower of the Mosquito and hitting the enemy at the same time were not difficult in the eyes of these super aces. However, in addition to damaging five planes and shooting down three in the first stagger, the pilots of the German Naval Aviation GR-186 Wing did not have time to turn back the planes that had rushed through the enemy's front line, and were shocked to find that those Mosquito fighters were whizzing past at a speed of nearly kilometers. In the blink of an eye, with the relative speed of both sides of almost kilometers per hour, they left them behind by a full four or five kilometers!

Although they were mentally prepared for the enemy's speed, seeing is believing. When they saw the enemy's abnormal penetration speed with their own eyes, all the German pilots, including Zeppelin, were dumbfounded.

"BF-109, go attack Blenheim and the lagging planes. FW-190, chase with me! We must not let them get close to the fleet!"

After gritting his teeth and shouting these words on the radio, Zeppelin pressed the joystick hard and led the way to chase after them.

Fortunately, as early as 1940 when it was just put into service, she had asked Messerschmitt Aircraft Company to modify the wings of her BF-109T carrier-based fighter to a double main beam plus a 50% laminar wing structure, and installed a double-stage supercharger on the DB-601 engine, and a full set of intercoolers and aftercoolers. At the cost of only sacrificing two MG-18 light machine guns, the performance of her fighter was improved a lot, especially the wing strength and operating performance at high speeds. Otherwise, this wave would definitely be left behind by these damn Mosquito fighter-bombers!

But even so, these damn British fighter-bombers were still too fast! And even at high speeds, these planes had a certain barrel roll performance! Whether he could shoot down these British wooden planes before they approached his main body - or even just catch up with them, even Zeppelin himself was not very confident...

After all, at this time, her will could not affect the plane, and she could do nothing about the mechanical gap.

The news that the fighter planes ahead had failed to stop the "new British aircraft" was quickly passed from the Zeppelin aircraft carrier to the headquarters of the battleship Bismarck. After hearing this news, even Lütjens was startled.

"What, Zeppelin didn't stop it!"

"Yes, Captain." Bismarck's face was also very ugly.

Zeppelin was the most solid barrier of the fleet, but it failed to stop the opponent's high-speed raid, which showed that the opponent was not an easy opponent to deal with. In particular, according to Zeppelin, these planes seemed to be made of wood. The VT fuses of the German Navy's anti-aircraft guns now included magnetic fuses and radio echo fuses. However, no matter which one, whether the wood material would affect the effect of the VT fuse, Lütjens had no confidence at all.

"Bismarck, I remember we don't seem to have many high-explosive bombs now?"

The admiral with a serious face stared intently at the direction from which the enemy planes were attacking, and asked while controlling his tone and speed to make himself sound calm - facing a powerful enemy, as the commander of the fleet, if he showed panic, the morale of the fleet would be over!

"Well... there are still nearly 105% of 37mm anti-aircraft shells, but only 18000% of 50mm anti-aircraft shells, which means 2000 rounds per ship. There are only 150 203mm anti-aircraft shells per ship. I don't know if it's enough for this air defense operation..." Bismarck calculated and felt a little depressed: "380 shells and mm shells can still make up more than %, but the high-explosive shells of mm shells have been almost all used to attack Bermuda. Now the remaining shells of Tirpitz and I are basically all armor-piercing shells..."

"Really? Let's fight first..." Lütjens sighed inwardly, "Bismarck, order all ships in the fleet to control the speed to 30 knots, maintain rudder effectiveness, prepare to evade air strikes, and focus on covering the Zeppelin!"

"Also tell Tirpitz and Prince Eugen that the enemy is a wooden plane, and the proximity fuse may not work well. You will open fire together later and control the explosion position and time of the high-explosive bombs yourselves - we will have to operate near Iceland for at least twelve hours, so we must ensure the hit rate! Only when we hurt them will they be unable to continue to attack us!" Lütjens warned.

"Understood! When I evade later, I will also directly operate the anti-aircraft gun."

The secretary cat standing in front of Lütjens nodded solemnly.

(PS: Here’s a joke: The Soviet wooden Po-2 “stealth” bombers of the North Korean Air Force during the Korean War were a huge headache for American radars.)

---

"Report! Enemy aircraft group's position is 60, distance is 1500 kilometers, altitude is 600, speed is !"

"I'm Lütjens... The entire fleet is centered on Zeppelin, with Eugen leading the way, Tirpitz trailing behind, and Bismarck in the middle facing the enemy aircraft group head-on, with intervals of 2000 meters, forming a fan-shaped formation... The fleet's speed is maintained at 20 knots, heading degrees northeast by north. All ships maintain rudder effectiveness and are ready to maneuver according to instructions at any time!"

"Air defense alarm, all ships' watertight doors locked, all personnel ready for battle! Anti-aircraft gunners, damage control team, take your positions!"

"The commander has given us an order to maintain our rudder and be ready to evade at any time... Eh? Captain Bangtai, why are you here?"

On the bridge of the aircraft carrier Zeppelin, the deputy captain, the navigator, and other officers were all stunned when they saw Bonte, who had recovered but was still weak, but was leaning on a crutch and forcing the medical soldier to help him into the spare steering room.

"I'm the captain of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, and this is my combat position... Have you ever seen a captain who doesn't go up to the bridge when an air raid comes, but hides in the cabin like a turtle?!" Bangtai looked pale and stern, and his somewhat weak expression could not hide the determination of a captain in his eyes: "The enemy is coming, why are you all looking at me? Why don't you take your positions and prepare for battle?!"

"Ah...yes!"

In the face of the somewhat stern tone of the respected Captain Bonte, the officers of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier did not dare to neglect and commanded the various cabins and departments of the aircraft carrier to enter the battle positions. Under the intentional or unintentional spread of the officers, the news that "Captain Bonte is now personally supervising the battle on the bridge despite his injuries" also spurred every officer and soldier on the aircraft carrier. Inspired by their captain's leading by example, the sailors quickly calmed down, and even the hull control and artillery steering of this aircraft carrier seemed to be more smooth and coordinated.

Even at the high latitudes near Iceland, the sun had already begun to set in the west at 6:30 p.m. In the dim sky in the northeast, the remaining 25 Mosquito fighter-bombers had already lowered their altitude while pushing the throttle to the maximum, rushing down towards the dark shadows on the sea surface that had turned dark golden under the dark yellow light of the setting sun!

However, even though the ammunition is about to run out, the German Navy's fleet is already prepared to fight a new and powerful enemy.

"I am Lütjens, listen to my orders: All fleets, head 20 degrees northeast by north, and start pulling smoke!"

"Bismarck, I've come back with the FW-190... Everybody hold on, we will hold them back!" Zeppelin's voice sounded as if he spoke through gritted teeth.

"Zeppelin? I see...Everyone, work harder. Let's focus on attacking their lead plane! Also, remember not to accidentally damage the Zeppelin's plane!"

"Enemy aircraft is twenty kilometers away, speed six hundred and one... 105 anti-aircraft gun/150 secondary gun/203 main gun, binding distance is the maximum range of 18300 meters... Salvo! Fire!"

Following the order, the remaining 105mm anti-aircraft guns on the four warships, as well as the four remaining 203mm rear main guns of Prince Eugen, burst into fire at the maximum range. However, the explosion smoke in the sky at this moment seemed a little sparse - due to the continuous fierce battles, everyone's anti-aircraft firepower was seriously damaged: the six 105 anti-aircraft guns of the Zeppelin, three behind the bridge; the three 105 anti-aircraft guns on each side of the Eugen, two on the port and one on the left and right respectively; and the 105 anti-aircraft guns and 150 secondary guns on both sides of the Bismarck and Tirpitz, added up to only half of their original firepower.

The firepower of the anti-aircraft guns was reduced by half compared to the intact state, and the firepower density was no longer guaranteed. The enemy planes on the opposite side were not only fast, but also wooden planes that might have a restraining effect on VT fuses! Now there was no good way, so they had to rely on extreme range shooting and dragging out 203 anti-aircraft shells and 150 shells to increase the number of counterattacks as much as possible - although the effect might only be better than nothing...

However, under the adversity, the German warships and German sailors, with the belief of returning home together, also burst out with infinite fighting power! Under the correction of the fire control director, the anti-aircraft artillery fire of the battleship Bismarck, the battleship Tirpitz, and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen was a little sparse, but the rhythm of the artillery fire and the accuracy of the artillery fire prediction were more fierce and sophisticated than before!

"Attention, all ships. This is Lütjens... The fleet is preparing to turn 60 degrees. Turn around together in one minute!"

"Everyone, fight hard! Focus on attacking their lead aircraft and disrupt their formation!"

"Yeah, okay, okay! Even if I turn into scrap metal, I will protect Sister Zeppelin!"

"Got it, got it! (Looking impatient) Lindemann, tell the main turret to load the flash grenades for me..."

"Yo?! You're ordering me around... Okay, okay, just fire your cannon and I'll take care of the rest..."

-

Although the Mosquito fighter-bomber was light and agile, the skilled British pilots constantly adjusted its course, trying to make a curved or even barrel-rolling arc to avoid the shells that took more than two minutes to fly, and there were also some sparse anti-aircraft artillery fire!

However, the opponent this time is the evil spirit warship after all. Their anti-aircraft artillery bombardment capability is not like the coastal cargo ships and European continental night bombings that they bullied before, which simply relied on VT fuses to carry out range attacks. In fact, it has boundless anti-aircraft firepower!

The anti-aircraft fire network composed of eight twin-mounted 150mm anti-aircraft guns, four 203mm main guns, and three 150mm secondary guns was controlled by the will of the warship itself. Although it was not dense, it was extremely fierce! Even the time difference between the different trajectories of the anti-aircraft guns was calculated by them, forming a continuous concentrated attack!

The leader of the British fleet rushed to the front. In the cockpit, the experienced British captain kept fiddling with the joystick in his hand to change the flight attitude. A round of artillery smoke exploded in the sky beside him, but it did not reach the Mosquito that changed its flight attitude.

But before the captain of the Mosquito fighter-bomber could secretly rejoice, another wave of anti-aircraft shells came down from the sky right in front of the fighter, covering it right in the middle! The flying rod-shaped fragments were like spinning knives, cutting holes into the fuselage of the plywood plane on the spot. The British pilots gritted their teeth and manipulated the damaged plane to evade quickly, but the damaged wood structure could not withstand the strong air force of the maneuver at a speed of 600 kilometers per hour. The left wing of the plane was torn off the fuselage of the plane little by little by the resistance of the air during the maneuver!

"Oh no! Concentrated attack? I was careless..."

"Captain! Parachute! Parachute quickly!"

"Tsk, it's too late to parachute... Split into squadrons and attack! Keep moving forward! Destroy them!" The last words of the British captain made the pilots' hatred even greater.

There was no time to mourn the captain who was unable to parachute from the rolling plane and plunged into the sea. The remaining Mosquito fighters of the British Army gradually began to disperse according to their captain's last orders, trying to break up the anti-aircraft firepower circle of the German fleet.

At the same time, the German warships were sailing slowly on the sea. With the advantage of the wind, the smoke they released was blown in the direction of the sailing by the strong sea breeze, completely covering their position...

"Damn it!... I'm the captain of the 102nd Squadron. Can anyone see their position clearly?"

"I can't see clearly... Never mind, we'll attack from all sides close to the sea surface, using water-floating bombs (which can attack a line after being dropped), and kill as many as we can!"

"I agree! In addition, I suggest that our 105th Squadron and 102nd Squadron attack from their flank together, and the 109th Squadron move to their front to form a cross attack!"

"We in the 109th Squadron have no objection!"

"Very good, then it's settled! Squadron 102, follow me... Oops! It's the Edelweiss Witch... They've caught up with us!"

Along with the British squadron leader's exclamation, a BF-300 fighter plane painted with an Iron Cross and Edelweiss pattern, with the number "109" decorated with a laurel wreath on the tail and more than thirty densely packed shootdown marks on the fuselage, came rapidly over.

This plane was not like other BF-109 fighters that were clumsy at high speeds. Instead, it drew a simple, precise, and even artistic arc and directly caught the six o'clock position of the Mosquito fighter which had no tail gun cover!

In just a blink of an eye, with her sniper-like precise and sharp shooting skills, the left engine of the leader's plane of Squadron 102 was ignited with flames. Moreover, after the attack was successful, the ruthless Edelweiss Witch fired a volley of 20mm shells before disengaging, which directly blew away the wooden tail rudder on the vertical tail of the Mosquito fighter!

"Squadron Captain!"

"Don't worry about me! Split up the attack! Just do as I said before..."

The plane disintegrated in mid-air.

After the Edelweiss Witch, a dozen FW-190 fighters, which were also high-speed aircraft, had already rushed to the battlefield! I don't know if it was Zeppelin's command, but the first target of these FW-190 fighters was the 109 Squadron that tried to turn to the front of Lütjens' fleet!

The Mosquito that wanted to outflank the enemy is now being outflanked by the Germans!

Although most of the members of the 109th Squadron managed to avoid this wave of attacks thanks to their maneuverability and speed, their formation was disrupted and they were being held by German fighter planes, so they had lost their ability to attack!

After all, it is a twin-engine fighter. Even if its speed is not inferior, it has bombs hanging on it and is stuck at six points. It cannot get away for a while!

"Oh no! What do I do now?"

"It's too late to split up our forces... Listen to me! We are only ten kilometers away from their fleet, everyone, attack together! Use our speed to rush into their air defense circle and drop water bombs together!"

"One group turns on the radar, and the other group uses passive mode to receive the opponent's signal. Let's attack together!"

"Let's go together! Even if we die, we'll kill him with Hans!"

The remaining Mosquito fighter-bombers, seeing that they were being pursued, chose the German fleet which was only ten kilometers away. Although the dense smoke made it impossible for them to see the target clearly, these knights in the sky still chose the same tactics as their predecessors. They formed a wide horizontal formation, relied on high-speed raids, and used their water-bobbing skills to turn their bombs into the sharp edges of the knights' guns!

-

Seeing these Royal Air Force pilots fighting so desperately, the pilots of the German fleet and GR-186 Wing became a little uneasy.

The FW-190 was right behind them. If they opened fire, would they accidentally kill friendly forces? / Would they be shot down by the battleship?

However, on a battlefield that changes rapidly, especially with these Mosquito fighter-bombers that are already extremely fast, how could they tolerate their hesitation? !

When descending at a small angle, the Mosquito fighter-bomber, which has a speed of over 167 kilometers per hour, can fly 151 meters if it delays for one second! Not to mention that the effective range of the German fighters' MG20-mm cannon is only about meters, even if they want to catch up after being missed, it is too late at such a close distance!

Super high speed is the penetration ability and attack power of the air force! And the so-called air attack is to use speed, assault and attack power to the limit to win!

When time is of the essence, there is no time for you to hesitate!

Just when the fighter plane was about to be lost because of this slight hesitation, a cold and even icy voice came from the radio of the German pilots: "Continue the attack! Follow me!"

Zeppelin gritted his teeth.

The German pilots came to their senses a little bit, and saw their instructor, who was also the commander of the GR-186 wing, flying an Edelweiss fighter with more than logos. Without hesitation, it grabbed the six o'clock position of a Mosquito fighter-bomber and rushed down at the same speed! Even the wing of the Mosquito had been dragged with a long line of billowing smoke by the explosions!

"Instructor! The instructor rushed forward!"

"What are you standing there for? Let's go too!"

"Yeah! I just remembered! The instructor and her sisters are... um (0x 0||b)"

"Buckhorn, shut up! Fight well!"

“Ah… yes, yes…”

Hearing that his instructor was clearly about to get angry, Buckhorn honestly lowered the nose of his plane and brought a evading Mosquito into his aiming circle. However, such a servile image made Erich Rudolf and Hans Rudel next to him speechless and looked down on him...

On the German warships on the sea, Bismarck, Tizi and Eugen had already begun to concentrate all their attention at this moment. They gently shook their rudders to ensure the responsiveness of the steering effect, while personally controlling the stability of the gyroscope bases of their anti-aircraft guns!

At a speed of 167 meters per second, in other words, it only takes one minute for the enemy to break through and reach the bombing distance!

However, he was not completely unprepared. Lütjens had already issued an order to prepare for a turn, and now was the right time to make the turn.

As long as you sail towards the enemy, the probability of being attacked will be greatly reduced!

Moreover, although their 50mm and 37mm anti-aircraft guns also suffered heavy losses in the previous battles, and their ammunition was running low, almost all of the remaining anti-aircraft guns had gyro-stabilized platforms, and they were also supported by the will of the warships. Because the distance was too close and the speed was too fast, even the anti-aircraft guns with exhausted ammunition could still fire at full speed. Although there were only 50 rounds of 2000mm anti-aircraft shells left on the Bismarck, Grapes, and Prinz Eugen, the number of remaining 50mm anti-aircraft guns was only two or three per side. With the theoretical firing rate of less than 50 rounds per minute for the 200mm anti-aircraft guns, and the fact that it only took the enemy half a minute to penetrate 5000 meters, the remaining ammunition was enough to deal with this wave of air strikes!

So, now all that's left is how to reduce the probability of being hit by positioning yourself when facing the enemy, and how to turn.

The normal operation was to point the bow of the warship towards the direction of the bombers under the cover of smoke to reduce the probability of being hit. Moreover, just before this moment, Lütjens had already ordered the ships to prepare for turning, and now the hulls of the ships were also turning.

The only problem was that the Zeppelin, which was in the middle of the ship, was protected by the **-type formation. It had difficulty turning because the hull was too high, and the damage was not optimistic...

The battleship's formation turning is based on the battleship with the worst maneuverability.

Fortunately, the Zeppelin aircraft carrier was at the end, and her turning range would not affect the three sisters on her right that were fanned out in front of the aircraft carrier. Moreover, the one minute of preparation for turning was also prepared for the Zeppelin, which was not very maneuverable!

Moreover, the fleet's previous course was towards the northeast and northwest, which was a tailwind, but it was a crosswind for the British aircraft group entering from the flank!

The crosswind was not conducive to the bomber's aiming, and the enemy had created smoke that made it impossible to determine the exact location of the target. Moreover, under the cover of the smoke, the German warships had already begun preparations for turning!

Under Lütjens's full-hearted command, this round of British air strikes was gradually narrowing the gaps.

At this moment, on the battleship Bismarck, Persian Cat, the flagship secretary, was also busy. On the WIFI and tactical radio, she was using her iron-blooded voice to pass on combat orders to her sisters and their sailors, and at the same time boosting their morale.

After all, fleet air defense operations require not only the positions of each ship, but also fire control and target allocation.

Although she may have been a bit nagging, she was actually trying her best to do her job well.

"Everyone, distribute your firepower properly... The 50mm anti-aircraft guns should take care of the outer layer to disperse the aircraft group, and the 37mm anti-aircraft guns should take care of the inner circle! Each group of artillery must guard its own firing range! Don't mess up the distribution of firepower!"

"Remember the firing positions - 50mm gun barrels are good at 5000 meters, 37mm gun barrels are good at 3000 meters... Our ammunition can still support this wave of air strikes, everyone, reload as much as possible, and resolutely do not let them easily enter the aiming route!"

"Everyone, stay calm! No matter how fast they are, they can't be faster than our shells! Also, please rest assured that our warship's 'automated command and control system' will do its best to ensure that friendly forces will not be accidentally injured!"

However, surprisingly, once the term "automated command and control system" was mentioned, everyone suddenly stopped being nervous. After hearing this, the veterans on the Bismarck and Tirpitz battleships, who were originally serious and nervous to the point of being a little stiff, couldn't help but burst into laughter.

And among these guys who were laughing so hard, there were a lot of veteran sailors and officers. There were even a few "old sea dogs" who had served on the Bismarck and Tirpitz during their initial sea trials.

The other sailors looked at these seniors and suddenly laughed so hard that they fell backwards, each of them was puzzled. However, after they whispered to each other and understood, they all smiled knowingly, although it was difficult to laugh out loud directly - after all, from the very beginning, weren't the people who were almost fooled by several captains and secretaries with this so-called "(KanColle brand) automated command and control system" these senior veterans?

These are the new recruits who have been bullied by the veterans before, and now they can turn around and mock the veterans, making them a joke for the rest of their lives!

"You little bastards...their planes are coming! Go and get your guns ready! Hurry up!"