Bismarck

According to the Royal Navy's understanding over the years, the sea area ahead of them is the intersection of the North Atlantic warm current and the Jan Mayen cold current, which is not suitable for aircraft carrier operations, with uncertain wind direction and bad sea conditions. So the simplest way is to let the battleship fleet, which is tough and cannot be sunk by a few anti-ship missiles, go to the front to serve as the aircraft carrier's air defense barrier, while continuing to pursue the Lütjens fleet and constantly exert pressure. The aircraft carrier can also use fighter jets to provide air cover for the battleship fleet in the rear waters, and wait until the damaged aircraft are repaired before taking off for the last fight.

Actually, this is the only solution.

"…That's all we can do. Let's continue on our way. I'll arrange the flight."

War-weary nodded and agreed.

However, for some reason, at this moment, War-weary and Tovey both had a bad feeling in their hearts:

I'm afraid this pursuit will end in failure...

one----------

Hours ago, on the other side of the sea

"Two FW-190s were shot down, five FW-190s were seriously damaged, and the two BF-109s of Grislavsky and Graf were also damaged... Now our aircraft, including my own Edelweiss, only have one BF-109 and eight FW-190s, of which six FW-190s need to be repaired - oh, yes, there is also a JU-87 (which can act as a reconnaissance aircraft if equipped with radar and high-precision radar wave receiver)..."

Zeppelin was reporting with a wry smile on his face, and opposite him was Bangtai with a wry smile on his face. Although it was a victory, and the other side was directly defeated and gave up this round of air strikes, there were only a few planes left on his side. The hangar that was originally full was now terribly empty, as if it had just been shipped out of the factory.

Without fighter jets, the entire aircraft carrier would be completely incapable of combat.

Fortunately, it seems that the other side will not launch an air strike on us for a while.

“…That’s better. I’ll go report to the commander. By the way, I’ve already sent out the JU-87 while you were away.” Bangtai still looked a little weak and his spirit was a little sluggish.

"No, you're not well yet - Captain, go and have a rest, I'll go report to the commander. Anyway, I can contact Bismarck directly..." Seeing that Bonte was going to grab the tactical radio station, Zeppelin quickly persuaded him to stop.

The fleet was still desperately trying to avoid the British pursuit in the North Atlantic. The hectic battlefield had a great impact on Bonte, who had not fully recovered. But even so, when Zeppelin had to go out for reconnaissance and combat frequently, Bonte, as the captain of the aircraft carrier, always took over the command of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier every time he went out to fight despite his newly recovered body from serious injuries.

How can we let Bangtai continue to drag us down? You know, this kind of back and forth is very depleting for the seriously injured, and Bangtai is now nearly 50 years old, and he may be full of hidden injuries when he gets older.

Bangtai smiled weakly and said nothing more.

Although Zeppelin looks like an icy person, she is actually a caring girl.

"Then I'll leave it to you." He nodded.

Zeppelin also waved to a few sailors to come over, and helped Bontai to the lounge, which was now almost like a ward. It was not until the sailors came back from the lounge and reported that Captain Bontai had returned to the bed that Zeppelin remembered that he still had to report the situation of this attack to the commander and others.

Zeppelin, who was a little dizzy from being busy, dialed Bismarck's "number" on the WIFI: "Hello, Bismarck?..."

After a while...

"Really? That's great! Yeah, got it, got it. I'll report it to the captain. Bye~"

Bismarck, who had "hung up" on the WIFI, turned around, put his hands behind his back, and walked to the side of his captain:

"Captain, the statistics of Zeppelin's attack have been released... They won't come again in a few hours."

"Really? That's good." Upon hearing the news, Lütjens raised his head and put down his reading glasses: "If there is no air raid interference, then our breakout is basically certain!"

"Really?" Hearing his captain's confident words, Bismarck couldn't help but ask out of curiosity: "Captain, do you have a solution?"

"What else can we do? Just rely on your speed to outrun them." The captain seemed to be in a good mood, and even winked at Bismarck: "Our speed is 32 and a half knots, and theirs is only 30 knots. Based on these two parameters plus their relative positions to us, you can draw a chart to calculate the position of their ships at the closest distance for them to chase us, right?"

"Hmm... I know. Pull out our course and the line connecting our position with theirs, then draw a circle with their speed as the radius, and finally pull out the perpendicular line of the triangle between us and them as the tangent of the circle, and finally use the parallel line from the tangent to the center of the circle to pull it to their position. The angle is the critical side angle..." Bismarck grabbed a pencil and drew it on the nautical chart in a few strokes: "... In this case, the critical side angle between us and them is fifty-eight degrees... If we sail at full speed, they and us... eh? At eleven o'clock "at night", when we are closest to them, we are twenty nautical miles away?"

"It's midnight now, to avoid time confusion, we should say 11:00 p.m." Looking at the jumping ship cat in front of him, the captain was speechless - she has been in service for five years, and this girl just can't change!

However, the happy Persian cat just smiled at the captain, and it was obvious that the words went in one ear and out the other. Don't say it, she was so happy in her heart: under the premise of faster speed than the other party, what does it mean to her that the closest distance is 20 nautical miles?

At 11:00 p.m., we have already entered the combat radius of the heavy fighters and bombers at Narvik Airport, right?

"In that case, we can go back safely!" Bismarck held her paw, looking excited as if she was in a 0v0 situation. In front of her captain, she was not like the elegant lady she usually was outside, but just a big cat.

"Girl, you don't think things through carefully. Don't do this kind of thing again."

Looking at the blindly optimistic cat, the captain smiled bitterly.

The fleet only had enough fuel to run until 110 a.m. tomorrow. The most optimistic estimate was that it could reach 88 kilometers from Narvik Airport - this was still a bit far from the fighter air defense circle, but it was already within the combat radius of the BF- heavy fighter and the JU- bomber. With Zeppelin's reputation with Goering, it would not be difficult to ask the Norwegian Air Force for air cover or even temporarily dispatch a supply ship. The only difficulty was probably whether the opposing aircraft carrier, the Vengeance, still had the ability to attack.

After all, although the previous fleet suffered heavy losses, many of them still escaped. Even if they were repaired, they should be able to put together bombers by about 8:00 pm - and at this time the British battleship fleet was approaching them, and at that time, their bombers might quickly approach them and attack them under the cover of the battleship's anti-aircraft fire!

Moreover, the wind direction in this area will turn into the tailwind of the Jan Mayen cold current. In such a battlefield environment, Zeppelin can only make some preparations for air defense interception.

Although there are only a few anti-aircraft shells left, at least I have bought several hours. Not only can I prepare for the battle, but I can also continue to survive, right?

"Go and ask Zeppelin to prepare the planes for the final decisive battle!" Faced with serious matters, Lütjens put away his smile and gave combat orders to his secretary with a serious face.

"Yes!" The playful secretary saluted in return and winked at her captain. Admiral Lütjens, who was serious and earnest, was immediately dismayed.

"This girl has no image at all, ah..."

---

The pursuit in the Arctic Ocean has reached its final stage.

As the sunlight of the Arctic Circle's polar day gradually turned from the west to the northwest and reached the edge of the water sky line, the distance between the battleships of both sides became closer and closer as time went by.

The navy's navigation chart method is universal throughout the world. Now that both sides can clearly guess each other's track and intentions, there is no need to predict such boring things on the battlefield today - if you can catch up, you can catch up, and if you can't catch up, you will fail.

At 21:00 in the afternoon, the pursuit was still going on. At this moment, Tovey's fleet was only 30 nautical miles away!

And as the two sides' courses intersected, the distance between the two warships was still closing at a rate of five nautical miles per hour. However, even so, everyone knew that this was just an illusion, an illusion caused only by the angle of approach of the two sides being the critical side angle (the one that optimizes the rate of approach).

Lütjens's speed was 2.5 knots faster than his own, and his position was even slightly ahead of his own! If the situation did not change, the fleets of both sides would approach the closest distance at : in the afternoon, and then cross each other. Even this "closest distance" was nautical miles ( kilometers) beyond the maximum range of the British and American battleships!

To be honest, Tovey was very desperate. If nothing unexpected happened, this speed of 2.5 knots would be a distance he would never be able to catch up with.

But I would never give up if I didn’t catch up with him. What if Lütjens made a mistake?

Although it seems that Lütjens has a clear mind and will not give Tovey's fleet any chance.

Tovey watched anxiously on the bridge, glancing at his watch from time to time, while Lütjens was much more relaxed because he knew that Tovey would not have a chance to catch up with him.

The speeds of both sides had reached their limits. Black smoke began to appear in the exhaust pipes, and even sparks flashed from time to time. Even the American battleships, which originally had a speed of only 27 knots, were struggling to follow behind Tovey at the risk of the pressure ventilation boiler bursting. The girls in the Lütjens fleet were also desperately rushing on despite the pain all over their bodies.

It can be said that now both sides have nothing left to play in terms of speed. All the warships are running at full speed. The power of the machinery has been exerted to the extreme at this moment. As long as they can maintain the maximum speed, they will be able to outrun the British pursuit without any accident.

The only thing that can change the situation on the battlefield at this moment is the game between the air forces of both sides!

Behind the battleship fleet led by Tovey, on the flight deck of the armored aircraft carrier HMS Vengeance, which was under the air cover of eight Spitfire fighters patrolling back and forth, were sixteen American SBD dive bombers and sixteen British Spitfire fighters that had been repaired with great difficulty, loaded with bombs and ammunition, and were waiting on the flight deck for attack in an almost full-scale posture.

In fact, apart from the eight Spitfires patrolling in the sky just in case, all of the Vengeance's operational aircraft were already on display here!

Who can say that this is not a full-scale mobilization?

The flight deck was filled with planes from the two "cousins" countries that speak English, as neatly arranged as a family. In the pilot waiting room at the bottom of the bridge, the First Sea Lord's Special Commissioner, Colonel Bailey Dura Despicio, dressed in military uniform and with a queen-like temperament, stood in front of the pilots on the eve of the expedition, speaking about the pre-war mobilization in her powerful tone.

"...I know that everyone here, whether they are from the United Kingdom, the United States of America, South Africa, India, Canada, Oceania, or even those who volunteered to join the army, have a common goal, which is to come and eliminate the French Cs entrenched in the European continent..."

War-weary was giving a speech on the stage, and the pilots who were ready to go were standing at attention and listening in neat rows.

"...Now our allies of justice and freedom have not gained an advantage at sea because of the existence of the German 'evil spirit'... But precisely because of this, this is a battle related to the entire naval war situation! The evil Lütjens fleet has now fled to their doorstep, but at this moment they are already in a desperate situation! As long as the Lütjens fleet is destroyed, the Kumetz fleet in the Atlantic battlefield will become isolated! And Dönitz's submarines will also be destroyed by our frigates all over the world because of the lack of cover from the surface fleet!"

As War-weary's tone gradually became higher, the pilots' eyes became brighter and more enthusiastic. Seeing that the pilots' emotions had been gradually mobilized, War-weary, who knew that he had successfully mobilized, was also somewhat excited in his heart. Even when he was talking about "evil spirits", War-weary's face did not blush at all, and he continued to dance and wave at the pilots:

"...This may very well be our decisive battle in the Atlantic Ocean! It is precisely because this battle has such significance that I hope everyone will do their best! No matter which country we are from, we all have a common goal! That is to eliminate fascism and the 'evil spirit', defend freedom! Defend capitalism! Defend our faith in God!"

As War-weary gave his mobilization speech, the pilots' eyes turned red. As soon as War-weary finished speaking, the pilots started shouting slogans and raising their fists:

"Destroy the evil spirits! Destroy Fa Cs!"

"Very good!" Seeing that the morale was fully mobilized, War-weary waved his hand and ordered: "Target: Lütjens Fleet! Carrier-based aircraft, all attack!"

Although, War-weary felt that the task of destroying the evil spirits seemed to include himself as well.

No, she is not an evil spirit.

Germany is the right one!

Chapter 737: Our Lütjens successfully joined forces

The warm current of the North Atlantic and the cold current of the Arctic Ocean converged near Jan Mayen Island, brewing layers of clouds in the sky. The northwest wind of the Arctic Ocean circulation brought the drifting ice from the south of Greenland, and in the sunlight of the "night" of the polar day, it drew a faint black edge, and drifted slowly and dangerously towards the southeast of Jan Mayen Island. Even in relatively empty waters, on the surface of the sea where the water temperature was even below zero degrees, it gradually condensed into pieces of thin ice that looked like a thousand layers of pancakes.

At nine o'clock "at night" on June 1942, 6, the ship was still thirty nautical miles away from the German fleet. Tovey stood in front of the porthole, silently looking at the thick clouds under the dim light of the setting sun in the north, feeling a little angry.

"Tsk, this damn weather..."

Jan Mayen Island is located at a high latitude, and the strong influence of the Arctic Ocean cold current makes the seasonal temperature change very small. The warm and humid air currents of the North Atlantic warm current blowing from the southeast collide head-on with the high and cold Arctic Ocean current blowing from Greenland in this sea area.

However, the two atmospheric circulations that should have been in fierce competition dared not to explode in the face of the severe cold air from the Arctic Ocean. They could only vent their general storms and neutralize and exchange their excess water vapor with the other side's coldness at the edges of the upper and lower parallel fronts, resulting in the changeable, strange and unpredictable weather in this area.

In such an environment, the weather around Jan Mayen Island is very "stable" - strong northerly winds blow all year round, the sky is overcast, and even during the continuous polar day, there is very little sunlight. The only thing to pay attention to is whether the cold front here will suddenly move south and affect the climate of the entire North Atlantic, that's all.

A thin layer of ice had begun to appear on the sea. Occasionally, when a ship passed by, the bow would easily cut through some of the ice. Occasionally, a crackling sound could be heard amid the sound of breaking waves, but it seemed that no large groups of drifting ice had been found for the time being.

Tovey raised his head and looked at the weather above him: although the clouds did not cover the entire sky, they blocked about 50% to 60% of the light of the sun hanging low in front of the left side of the fleet, which was slightly dim like dusk.

The northwest wind that was whistling and blowing in from the northwest, bringing with it waves that were overwhelming them, was undoubtedly bad news. In this state of sailing against the wind, his old rival in front, the Evil Spirit-class aircraft carrier Zeppelin in Lütjens's fleet, could easily launch her group of carrier-based fighters, which were few in number but had made great achievements, without even changing their course.

In fact, she has now begun to release carrier-based aircraft sporadically, using their anti-ship missiles with a range of more than 20 kilometers to attack the only destroyers under her command that can exceed the speed of the opponent - poor elementary school students, how can they withstand the attack of anti-ship missiles!

In just half an hour, two groups of missiles attacked, and only four of the nine destroyers in a squadron were still able to escape! The threat of submarines in the North Atlantic was well known, and the fleet would have to return after killing Lütjens. The capital ship without the cover of destroyers would be a sitting duck for submarines!

At this moment, how could Tovey dare to let the destroyer continue to rush forward? The original idea of ​​letting the destroyer rush forward first and use the torpedo net to block a wave of attacks by relying on its high speed has now completely gone to waste!

In order to accumulate enough for a decisive full-deck assault, there were only four Spitfire fighters on duty in a group. But in this hazy airspace, the opponent's aircraft carrier had the initiative, and there was electronic interference. Cricket's four Spitfire fighter patrols, Tovey did not dare to order an attack - there were not enough troops, the enemy situation was unclear, the radar was interfered, the sky was cloudy, and the enemy was right at the door of his aircraft carrier, so the maneuverability was extremely flexible. If he was ambushed, he would have no place to cry - even if he could see that the opponent had few planes left!

Sure enough, the correct way to use the air force is to rely on high speed and attack frantically to seize the initiative! Fortunately, the four Spitfires in his hands can still play a certain role in expelling and deterring, otherwise...

Looking at the weather, facing the situation where he had many soldiers and generals but was played around by the "rat", Tovey frowned. However, just as Tovey was drinking the Northwest of the Arctic Ocean and thinking about his own worries, the sound of the messenger's footsteps interrupted his thoughts:

"Report to the Commander, the aircraft carrier Vengeance has sent a telegram... The strike aircraft group has been dispatched as planned, requesting the next combat instructions!"

"Inform the fleet, tell them that the cloud cover (the percentage of the sky covered by clouds) here has exceeded 50%, and the height of the low clouds is very low. Let them follow our ship's navigation signal and we will guide them to bomb."

Tovey blurted out without thinking: "Also, tell our fleet: Zeppelin will definitely organize an interception when the attack aircraft group comes over - order all our warships to use anti-aircraft guns to cover the aircraft's approach. Also, the four combat air patrol planes in the sky are ready to seize the height at any time! When the time comes, all of them will press down from high altitude and hold back the Edelweiss Witch!"

"In an hour, the distance between us and them will be only 45 kilometers at most. The Germans can only intercept them for six or seven minutes at most... Tell all fighters to hold them off at all costs."

"Yes!"

---

An hour later, the Arctic polar day "night" was around 10 p.m.

The sun hung low in the northwest, tilted a little more towards the northern sea-sky line, and was hidden behind the clouds in the northern sky, dyeing the mottled, dark clouds with brilliant red edges. The cold and hot air currents collided and rubbed on the sea surface of Jan Mayen Island until they were separated. At the same time, the water vapor of the North Atlantic warm current condensed into frost in the cold wind of the Arctic Ocean. With the whistling of the north wind, it gradually formed layers and rows of clouds that happily rushed between the sky and the earth!

In this cool north wind-blown cloud that seems to be filled with floating ice flowers, there is a group of high-speed shadows that are either gray-black or green. They are like knights flying in the sky, dragging the high-temperature exhaust condensation and the clouds stirred up by the propeller storm. With the momentum of thousands of troops at high speed, they are built in the layers of clouds above Jan Mayen Island, as if they are galloping across the cloud fields with high mountains and deep off-road pits.

The fireworks that occasionally dotted the clouds and mountains - those were the smoke from the explosions of anti-aircraft guns from both fleets - were like the fire support for the castles behind the knights of both armies to defend, adding a touch of cruel yet beautiful blood-red to the battle between the two armies in the cold sky of ice and wind!

However, the British pilots in the cockpit did not have any lofty ambitions or passion.

Looking at the sky covered with dense clouds, and then looking at the dark sea that has been covered by clouds and is fragmented and can't see anything, and at the same time constantly avoiding the opponent's deadly machine gun fire that may suddenly pass over their heads at any time, everyone has three uniform words in their hearts:

MMP!

The clouds in the sky were stacked up one after another, and it was impossible to see what was above or below one's feet! Even though the clouds were not so dense that they covered the entire sky until it was dark, these blood-red clouds under the setting sun completely cut the airspace into pieces! Even in the airspace that was theoretically parallel to the same height as the pilot, and would not be blocked by the clouds stacked up above and below according to the height, the British pilots looked around in confusion, but they could not find their targets!

It was natural that it couldn't find the target. The FW-47 fighter plane, which was only comparable to the P-190 in World War II, always made good use of its vertical impact that was like the death-snatching force.

Moreover, at the top of the clouds, there was a BF-109 early warning and command fighter painted with the Edelweiss logo. It was playing with the Spitfires around it that were like headless flies, while calmly commanding the FW-190s to attack back and forth.

"Buckhorn." Zeppelin ordered in a relaxed and gentle tone, "There are eight SBDs flying to your left at 1600 meters below you. Just be careful, your altitude is only 2000 meters, don't rush into the sea."

Instructor Iceberg drew out the final sound of "Oh" at the end of his sentence, which made Buckhorn's heart itch. Imagining the instructor's expression, he responded very straightforwardly.

"understood."

"Rudolf, pay attention. There are four Spitfires looking for your team... Yeah, good. Once we get into the clouds, turn right and we'll be able to get away from them."

"Instructor, is it okay for you to take on eight Spitfires by yourself?"

"There are only three left, Rudel~"

The cold female voice coming from the radio sounded like she was in a good mood. She even joked with this guy who always made trouble: "Rudel, it seems that you haven't shot down a single fighter yet? I say, if you are still a nobody before I shoot down the last fighter, I will sacrifice some of my rest time and practice one-on-one with you, okay?"

“Ah?! No, no, no, I’ll hit you, isn’t it okay for me to hit you…” Although his name sounded good when Zeppelin called it with a transposition, didn’t he want to be a sparring partner?

Rudel, who looked anxious, immediately caused a good-natured laugh on the radio.

But the British people on the opposite side couldn't even cry at this moment.

Whether it was the four Spitfire fighters that had completely lost their way in the cloud maze, or the SBDs that had risked breaking away from the fighter cover and descending to low altitude, only to be chased by the FW-190s whizzing in from the sky not long after, or the last fighters of the aircraft carrier Vengeance that could only see with the naked eye, they had been completely disoriented in this airspace - even though the fleet that promised to provide them with guidance and navigation was right in front of them...

It is a well-known problem that the Earth's North Pole and the Earth's magnetic field are not in the same position. Even from the sea area of ​​​​Jan Mayen Island, the magnetic compass points straight to the west - this is because the iron core inside the Earth is affected by the rotation of the Earth, and the magnetic North Pole is always moving. The approximate location is west of Greenland, in the Arctic Archipelago in northern Canada, and it has been moving northwest at an irregular speed!

This error may not matter in normal times, but it will be a big problem if you are within the Arctic Circle!

Even the magnetic compass on a warship will not show the true direction in the Arctic Ocean if it is not specially calibrated, not to mention the aircraft which only has a simple compass-type magnetic compass.

The magnetic compass was unreliable, so the only way to find the direction was through the guidance of the fleet. But what was even more strange was that there seemed to be a demon woman who was proficient in electronic interference in the evil fleet on the opposite side.

Even though the distance between them and the German fleet was still more than 40 kilometers, and the jammer's jammer signal could not directly interfere with the radar of the entire British fleet, there was no problem in jamming the tactical radio channel.