Bismarck

"Captain, don't worry. The ship will straighten itself out when the time comes. The British are coming, and my cannons are not for fun."

Her words amused Lütjens, and even the crew members on the bridge laughed.

She was teasing the captain, not you. Seeing that the crew were all looking at her, Miss Bismarck couldn't help but said unhappily, "What are you looking at? There's nothing to see. Just work hard!"

The radar commander smiled and replied, "Bismarck, why should we work? Our radars can't see as far as you can."

"That's right, even we can't steer as steadily as you can." The helmsman also agreed.

A bunch of old foxes, Bismarck is itching to do something. Can you blame me for being so capable?

Since knowing their identities, this group of people have started to be lazy openly, and the captain sometimes even indulges them, which makes Bismarck very helpless.

But what they said was indeed right. With me here, their positions in the battle are indeed dispensable.

"Bismarck also needs to rest. It is impossible for him to take care of everything. He still has to be on duty when it is time to be on duty." Lütjens said, patting Bismarck on the shoulder.

"Yes, Captain!"

Just as everyone was joking and the atmosphere in the bridge was relaxed and cheerful, Zeppelin's enemy contact report came over the WIFI:

"Bismarck! I found their fleet! They are southwest of us, east of Iceland, 450 kilometers away from us, heading due north, and sailing at a speed of knots... In addition, I have calculated that if our course and theirs do not change, they will be able to take off their planes in half an hour at most, and the courses of the battleships on both sides will meet at pm!... Now they seem to be preparing the flight deck, and they will be able to take off their planes in half an hour at the latest! Bismarck, go and report to the commander!"

Zeppelin's voice on the WIFI was urgent. But at this moment, Bismarck, who heard the enemy's report, suddenly felt the malice of the world.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

What's coming is finally here!

If it were in its peak condition, the Eastern Expeditionary Fleet of the Third Reich War Navy could have relied entirely on speed and accuracy to fight the enemy, but now it has almost nothing!

However, in order to make the greatest effort and seize every opportunity to break out and return, the more than 10,000 remaining officers and soldiers on the four warships were quickly mobilized by the captains who had already made up their minds to fight, with shrill alarms and concise and decisive combat mobilization orders.

Zeppelin had not returned yet, and Lütjens wanted to exchange views with Bonte, so he had to grab the tactical radio and start communicating verbally.

According to Zeppelin's report, whether it was Lütjens or Bonte, it could be easily calculated on the map that based on the current course, the fleets of both sides would indeed meet in five hours.

Just like the Battle of Newcastle when the Zeppelin aircraft carrier launched its first attack, an equiproportional triangle now appeared in front of him - a distance of 450 kilometers, and the distance between the two sides was closing at a speed of 90 kilometers per hour.

With this casual calculation, if the return route remains unchanged, even if the enemy launches a plane now, it will be able to fly over my head at two o'clock! Even if my fleet continues to evade the wind in the northeast direction, it will only delay the time of engagement - in the Arctic Ocean where it is now midnight, this approach is completely meaningless, except for wasting my last bit of fuel!

However, insufficient manpower has become the biggest problem facing us...

"The distance is now 450 kilometers. Judging from our current course and theirs, they will be within the attack radius in half an hour. I say, Bangtai, are your planes ready now?"

"Commander, we are ready and have installed anti-ship missiles. But..." Speaking of this, Bangtai was still a little hesitant: "...We only have 18 planes now, and Warspite was in the British fleet last time. Warspite is an old rival of ours. If she is here this time, I'm afraid the other side has discovered Zeppelin now, and they will definitely be prepared later. ...If the aircraft carriers on both sides end up fighting each other, we will have no way to solve the problem of insufficient manpower..."

Hearing Bangtai trying hard to report to him, Lütjens was silent.

The original plan was to prepare a wave of aircraft to be dispatched at any time in an effort to take the initiative - four FW-190s were equipped with anti-ship missiles, and other aircraft were to fully cover the four FW-190s to break through to the bombing distance.

However, what Bangtai said was correct - it would take an hour to enter the flight range, and it would take an hour and a half for the plane to fly 400 kilometers. If the other side was prepared, then they would have enough time to prepare!

Moreover, the opposing enemy had 72 planes, which was a force advantage of nearly four to one!

If we really have to attack, even if we can severely damage the Vengeance, the consequence of not having fighter jets to defend against the air will be that we won't be able to escape!

Now everyone in the fleet was wounded, and the other side had their battleships rushing towards them! In this situation where they were not qualified to fight attrition, even if they won, both sides would suffer losses, so what difference would it make from losing!

"Commander, how about this?" Just as Lütjens was silent, Bonte on the opposite side continued to speak: "Let Zeppelin continue to monitor the other side, and once I remove the bombs here, I will have 17 fighter jets ready to go at any time."

"Huh? You? Keep talking, I'm listening!" When Lütjens heard Bontai's words, his eyes lit up, as if he had thought of something.

"Yes, we will take the initiative to attack! I bet that after discovering the Zeppelin, the British, who are also afraid of our anti-ship missiles, will also start preparing attack aircraft... My opinion is that I will let the fighter jets take off directly and attack in advance, intercepting their attack aircraft halfway and giving them the upper hand!"

"That's a good idea! Let the Zeppelin fighters directly knock their aircraft carriers to the penalty station, and then we can relax a little bit - just do as you say! Bangtai, get ready immediately!"

Listening to Bonte's fighting determination in the microphone, Lütjens felt that he could finally laugh.

Calculating the time, the Zeppelin with fuel can last for a full five hours. She left at ten o'clock, and now there are still three hours. If her fighters attack in advance, in two hours at most, the air battle will break out 200 kilometers away from her fleet - and then gradually move towards her.

Although the fuel consumption rate of fighter jets in air combat is five to ten times that of cruising, if they just fight and retreat, or even mainly rely on the air command center at the early warning pole, the remaining time should be enough, right?

Just as Lütjens was calculating the battlefield situation and the exchange ratio, the warhawks on the flight deck of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier had already begun to take off - even those aircraft that were still carrying anti-ship missiles, the first thing they did after taking off was to drop their bombs directly into the sea!

Bangtai was very clear: although these things looked high-end, they were actually just some worthless 500 kg armor-piercing bombs. It was just that a missile pioneer had tied a glider to the bombs to conceal their presence.

+++++++++++In the meantime+++++++++++++++

Four hundred kilometers away, near the Arctic Circle, in the British fleet headquarters that had entered the Arctic Ocean, Tovey and War-Spite, eager for revenge, continued to calculate the situation on the battlefield and Lütjens' range of movement.

After all, Lütjens' current position has actually reached the edge of the Iceland airport's reconnaissance range - in fact, according to feedback from the Iceland airport, by four o'clock in the afternoon at the latest, Lütjens and his group will be able to drive directly out of the Iceland airport's effective reconnaissance range - at that time, only aircraft carriers can provide a search range!

Even though the Arctic Ocean is the smallest ocean in the world, it is still 2000 kilometers in radius. Moreover, Zeppelin would definitely do his best to hunt down the reconnaissance planes sent by the Vengeance. In this case, if they want to catch the German fleet again, it would be a matter of luck and character. And who can tell the difference between luck and fate?

Therefore, as a commander, you must reduce the factor of "luck" to a minimum to ensure the smooth and successful operation plan!

"The wind is blowing, and the plane has already taken off..."

Plane after plane took off from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Grudge and disappeared into the other side of the sky.

"War-weary, do you think Lütjens and his men will continue to head north?"

Tovey, who was standing by the window, looked at the plane disappearing and slowly asked.

Next to Tovey, War-weary was holding in his hand a telegram sent from an Icelandic reconnaissance plane - it was obvious that, at least until the time this telegram was sent, Lütjens' fleet was still maintaining its original northeast-by-east direction, that is, sailing in a great circle. It looked like an arc, but in fact it was heading directly towards the northern Norwegian port of Narvik.

However, although this telegram was received not long ago, it is still two hours away from the German fleet. Actual combat changes rapidly, and War-weariness just said that Zeppelin has come here to conduct reconnaissance - if Lütjens adjusts his course and continues to sail north, this round of aircraft will be in vain due to insufficient range!

"I don't think so. They probably don't have much fuel left. But..."

War-weary shook his head and said with some concern: "You know that the Zeppelin ship crew came over for a stroll just now, and if we can reach them, then they should be able to reach us. So, if they come over with anti-ship missiles..."

"So that's why you keep asking the carrier-based aircraft to take off immediately, right?" Tovey turned his head and looked at War-weary and said.

"Yes...if they turn around, our trip will be in vain. But if they attack, I don't want the Grudge to be destroyed by them without any action!"

With hatred flashing in his eyes, War-weary also stared hatefully in the direction of the German ship crew in the distance, expressing his thoughts with almost no fluctuation in his tone.

Hearing War-weary's opinion, Tovey nodded in agreement.

The lightning speed of air power destined the characteristics of high attack and high speed, low health and low defense in air combat. Even though the British aircraft carrier is an armored aircraft carrier and the number of aircraft it carries is four times that of the Germans, even so, Warspite did not want to take the risk of being preempted by Zeppelin.

After all, it's an anti-ship missile!

If this kind of thing was really dropped by a German plane, let alone the fact that Warspite's real body is still in the Indian Ocean, even if her real body was here, she wouldn't know how to stop it!

What’s more important is that the British carrier-based aircraft were neatly arranged on the flight deck with bombs and fuel. In the face of an air raid, such parked aircraft were like a pile of time bombs! Moreover, even if such a fleet took off, it would take at least an hour for the deck patrol fighters to prepare for takeoff on the newly vacated deck.

If the number of aircraft taking off was insufficient, or if the take-off time was too late, perhaps Zeppelin's aircraft would be close at hand by then - she was not sure that her carrier-based aircraft could defeat Zeppelin's group of perverts in a one-on-one and time-critical situation! At the same time, she was not sure that even the armored aircraft carrier, the Vengeance, would have any combat effectiveness after being hit by three or four anti-ship missiles...

Moreover, if this wave of attack aircraft failed, it would simply mean that Lütjens changed his course and headed north to avoid his air strike. If he had previously increased the distance, it would take at least two or three hours to get back within the combat radius, including the time it took to send the aircraft and the time it took to fly to his side.

His fleet was advancing, and the planes were also flying in this direction. Even though it would take two hours to get there, it would only take one hour to get back. He would have at least two hours to adjust his deployment at leisure - in other words, even if Lütjens evaded north, he would not be afraid at all!

Therefore, when it comes to aircraft carrier combat, the key is to strike first and gain the upper hand!

Twenty-six SBD Dreadnoughts and sixteen Sea Spitfires with auxiliary fuel tanks, this full-deck attack lineup is already most of what he can send!

The plane had been dispatched, and the next step was to wait for the battle report. Anyway, it was estimated that the plane would take at least two hours to fly. Seeing that it was not yet half past twelve, Tovey and War-weary, who had already made their wishful thinking, began to relax. After asking the orderly for two cups of black tea, they sat down at the chart table with the cups of black tea and began to wait for the news of victory ahead.

However, just over half an hour later, just after one o'clock, the communications soldier came running over in a hurry.

Seeing the communications soldier like this, Yan Zhan and Tovey looked at each other and their hearts skipped a beat!

As expected, the sweaty signalman opened his mouth with bad news...

"Report! Urgent battle report from the front group... Our plane was intercepted by Zeppelin fighters halfway! They have 17 or 18 planes, and the command and coordination are very strong. Our Spitfire fighters can't stop them... Now the air strike group has suffered heavy losses. Request permission to abandon the mission and evacuate the battlefield..."

Hearing the report that the front-line carrier-based aircraft fleet even requested to evacuate, Tovey and War-weary were so shocked that they stood up directly.

Seventeen or eighteen fighter planes should be Lütjens' last assets. He had thought of Lütjens' reaction before. But he didn't expect that the other side would take the initiative to attack, give up bombing, and kill him halfway. He directly killed his air strike! !

"This...how much did we lose?!" War-weary was the first to ask.

"We lost two Spitfires and three bombers, but... the fleet is now two hundred kilometers away from the target, and we are now entangled by them and cannot escape... Commander, they are still waiting, please give the order quickly!"

Hearing the panicked voice of the signalman, Tovey finally recovered from his shock. However, Tovey was furious and slammed his fist on the table:

"Damn it... I get it! They just took advantage of our own trick! What a good Zeppelin! What a good Lütjens!"

"Immediately, order the bombers to retreat! Spitfires, cover me, and make sure the bombers retreat safely!"

He punched the chart table, and was furious at the loss he suffered. But... no matter how angry he was, Tovey had no way to deal with it.

The bomber group was intercepted halfway. Although the losses were not great for the time being, if the air battle continued, it would be a catastrophic blow to their own carrier-based aircraft units!

The enemy fighters were free of any burden and could entangle their own slow-moving carrier-based bombers and beat them to death in the air combat! It can be predicted that both bombers and fighters will suffer heavy losses this time, and the damaged aircraft will not be able to be deployed again in the short term.

Now there are only ten SBDs left in the formation, and the remaining twenty fighters have to be arranged for patrol duty to guard against Zeppelin's anti-ship missile air strikes. The troops of the Vengeance are suddenly stretched to the limit!

With such a small force, let alone being able to break through the enemy's air defense, even self-preservation is a bit risky!

To put it bluntly, if the carrier-based aircraft lose their combat effectiveness, it is basically equivalent to declaring: The aircraft carrier Vengeance is useless!

(If you hit an aircraft carrier that has lost its combat capability, you will also be punished by standing still~)

Chapter 2.5: Section that determines fate

Tovey and War-weary were both furious and angry when they received the battle report from the front.

The front-line assault aircraft group suffered heavy losses and was even forced to abandon the mission. The existing aircraft group on the flight deck consisted of only ten SBDs and twenty Spitfires. Even if they made a desperate attempt, these ten SBDs alone would not be enough to do anything to the German Zeppelin on the opposite side.

Not to mention, it's already one o'clock.

Because they were afraid that Zeppelin would come and fight them, the flight deck was now filled with Spitfire fighters, and the SBDs were parked in the hangar. Even if they urgently ordered the flight deck to be prepared for the second wave of attack aircraft to take off, it would take at least until two o'clock.

Without even counting their fingers, Warspite and Tovey could basically determine that this wave of aircraft would definitely not arrive at Lütjens's side earlier than three o'clock, and it might even be around three-thirty! The German aircraft on the other side would be able to return to land at two o'clock at most after intercepting their aircraft group - and at two o'clock, it would take at least three o'clock for them to receive the retreating SBDs and the Spitfires that were dragging behind to cover them!

And the German carrier-based aircraft on the opposite side? Their aircraft actively carried out air combat interception.

Because the attacking fighters have the initiative on the battlefield, the casualties on the other side are definitely smaller than ours, and with fewer numbers, the recovery and support work can be more flexible. In more than an hour, repairs, reloading, and refueling can be done. In other words, even if we force them to go out again, the consequences will most likely be nothing more than a refueling tactic to queue up and give ourselves a head.

If War-weary knew that there was an animation called Calabash Brothers in later China, he would be able to blurt out that this is exactly the same as the story of Calabash Brothers saving his grandfather.

The combat effectiveness of the air force is proportional to the cube of the distance from the combat target to the mothership. The farther the enemy is, the lower the combat efficiency of the air force. The most important reason is that because the enemy is closer to the mothership, the efficiency of fighter jet defense force operation is much higher. Even if they are unlucky and are bitten by the Spitfire, they can get out of danger by drilling back and getting the anti-aircraft cover of the shipmen...

After thinking about it, War-Yan and Tovey gave up the idea of ​​sending out more fighter planes.

"Forget it, let's wait for the carrier-based aircraft to come back and see when we can gather enough attack waves..."

Holding his nose and enduring the frustration, Tovey angrily gave an angry order.

---

At two o'clock, against the North Atlantic Current's countercurrent in the Arctic Ocean, the aircraft carrier Vengeance released eight Spitfire fighters with auxiliary fuel tanks as a precaution, and then began to receive the scattered and damaged aircraft. By the time the last Spitfire, with a smoke billowing fuselage and a broken leg, "smashed" on the flight deck, it was almost three o'clock, which was basically the same as they expected.

When the air combat report was handed to Tovey, his nose, which had been crooked by anger more than once, turned 360 degrees perfectly and straightened out again...

The leader of the group was killed in action, and the group suffered heavy losses. Of the 26 SBD Dreadnoughts, 11 were lost, 9 were severely damaged, and 3 were scrapped; the escorting 16 Spitfires also had 4 killed, 6 severely damaged, and 2 scrapped.

Under the attack power of the high-powered high-explosive bombs of the MG151-20 aircraft cannon, most of the remaining aircraft, even if they were not seriously damaged, would need major repairs.

The German crew on the opposite side, relying on the initiative of the first round of raids, the troop advantage gained by shooting down three Spitfires in the raid at the beginning, the sturdy fuselage of the FW-190, and the two BF-190s at an altitude of 109 meters that firmly occupied the height advantage, frequently used dive-forcing postures to cover the FW- group to escape from the fight and climb again to seize altitude. Under the cover and threat of the BF-s, the British fighters basically returned victorious except for a few self-proclaimed "suspected shootdowns".

Even the British, who always like to brag and boast about themselves, lost their temper this time.

With so many casualties, the number of attack aircraft is seriously insufficient. If they want to send out the next wave, they must at least repair the damaged aircraft to a state where they can be deployed again - this will take several hours. Moreover, these are only the damaged aircraft. As for the seriously damaged aircraft, even if they are not scrapped, they can basically not be counted on in this naval battle.

and···

"It's three o'clock... I remember Iceland said before that Lütjens is about to leave their effective reconnaissance range, right?" Tovey said sadly after glancing at the wall clock.

Once he loses his trace, it will be very difficult to find him in the vast ocean.

Standing next to him as his partner, War-weary, who understood what he meant, turned around and waved to a communications soldier, saying, "Go, tell the Enemy to send off a few more reconnaissance planes."

"Yes Madam!" The messenger took the order and left.

However, as they watched the messenger walk out the door, Tovey and War-weary continued to make plans in their hearts.

Since the German fleet has reached the edge of the effective reconnaissance radius of the Icelandic airport, Lütjens' next move will be very unclear. And even if the enemy does not change its course and predicts its position on the sea chart, they are still about 300 kilometers away. Even if a reconnaissance plane is sent out now, it will take at least four o'clock to fly near Lütjens' fleet. Besides, these reconnaissance opportunities will not be intercepted by Zeppelin, the ship man? Who can say for sure?

"What should we do now?" asked War-weary as he watched the reconnaissance plane take off.

"Chase! Keep chasing! If we don't block Lütjens in the Arctic Ocean now, he will be a big trouble in the future!" Tovey gritted his teeth and said firmly. But he thought about it quickly and turned around to ask, "How many planes do we have now?"

"Excluding the two Spitfires we just sent out for reconnaissance, we still have 18 Spitfires and 10 SBDs. In addition, the maintenance team has 6 Spitfires and 6 SBDs that can be repaired gradually within a few hours. But..." War-weary flipped through the memo in his hand and smiled bitterly, "But now, we need to be on guard against whether Zeppelin will send out her anti-ship missile bombers..."

"They should suffer losses, but you never know... We only have 20 Spitfires now, so we should be prepared for the worst..."

Tovey also hesitated for a long time, and after turning around for a while, he finally spoke: "Forget it, let's be safe. Anyway, we will enter the intersection of the North Atlantic Warm Current and the Jan Mayen Current. Aircraft carriers cannot perform well in this sea area. So, War Spite, you go to the Vengeance now, and I will give you two cruisers and a destroyer squadron. You go to the sea behind the battleship fleet and operate alone. Our two formations will be in front and behind to cover each other. Even if the old man Lütjens really does something wrong, at least we can take care of each other! When the plane is repaired, we will go out again! Pull all the planes up, and make sure to bomb Lütjens until he slows down!"

Although Tovey knew that the current situation might be a case of fighting a wolf with a weak stick, he did not dare to take the risk of the opponent's anti-ship missiles destroying the aircraft carrier.

He also wanted to avenge Hood, but more importantly, he was the commander of the fleet.