This heretic cannot be burned, he must be hung up and whipped!

The advisor agreed: "Yes, this is a flaw, but we have no choice. If we send out too many maritime reconnaissance aircraft, it will attract the attention of the Crusaders. If they are alert and discover our formation, our surprise attack plan may be ruined.

The flight path of our aircraft just happens to bypass the radar detection area deployed by the Crusaders in western France. If the Crusaders launch reconnaissance aircraft and discover our fleet, it will be very bad!"

The consultant's considerations were indeed reasonable. Malawiki paused and continued:

"Then we can deploy it like this: deploy large submarines near Plymouth and have them launch reconnaissance aircraft to conduct reconnaissance. At the same time, deploy a small number of reconnaissance aircraft on the shipping routes. Finally, we can also dispatch fishing boats to conduct reconnaissance on the nearby shipping routes."

Malawiki's words earned nods of agreement from everyone present. Yes, this is indeed a good idea!

"Okay, let's revise our plan as the Legion Commander says," the advisor said. "What about the second one?"

"Planning for just one attack is far from enough!" Malawicki said. "Since this is a risky attack, why not bomb Plymouth repeatedly, completely reducing it to rubble?"

"Our goal is not just to destroy a few warships and blow up the various facilities in the port, but to completely destroy the entire Plymouth!" Malavicki said, "Let Plymouth completely lose its function as a naval port and completely wipe out the Crusader sailors there!

Killing a Crusader sailor now means their warship will be short of a qualified seaman. They can't just launch a sneak attack to protect their warship!"

Malawiki's voice grew louder and louder.

"If Plymouth Harbor hadn't been razed to the ground, I daresay it would have regained its former prosperity in less than six months!" Malavicki said, "If you think you've accomplished your mission simply by sinking a few Crusader warships, that's too naive, isn't it?

We must get closer and destroy it with our naval guns and the plague."

"But—what if the Crusader planes come?"

"Tell the reconnaissance planes to take note. The Crusader pigeon interceptors have a very short range. As long as we locate and bomb all Crusader airfields within a 300-kilometer radius, their aircraft won't be able to interfere with us," Malawicki said jokingly.

"There's no way the Crusaders' planes are coming from the sea, right? They don't have any airports on the sea!"

----------------

Fifteen days later

There are now only waves less than half a meter high on the sea surface, which makes the voyage quite smooth for this 40,000-ton battleship.

On the bridge, Malawiki held up a telescope and looked at the sea in the distance. It was really good weather for sailing!

"Report, received a telegram, no fish caught."

Holding the telegram, the advisor said to Malavicki standing beside him, "Commander, your proposal is really great!"

A large number of submarines have gathered in an area of ​​100 nautical miles around the attack fleet, and seaplanes take off from time to time.

In the vast ocean, no matter how large a fleet is, it is just a tiny dot. Now the heretic naval fleet of Gibraltar is sailing against the wind and waves.

At the same time, how to remain undetected by the Crusaders during long-distance voyages has always been a problem, but now this problem has been solved.

That is to use fishing boats!

Fishing boats would circle the navy routes in advance, fishing while observing the sea. If they spotted Crusader ships, they would immediately sound the alarm.

Now that no fish have been caught, it means everything nearby is safe. Fish are the code names of the Crusaders' ships. Different fish represent different warships.

"Long live the Lord of Hell!" Malavici said with a smile, "Now, we can get the plane from Iberia to take off."

PS: You can also give some suggestions in the comment section for the names of the ships that will appear in this book. Bei Zhai is currently bad at naming, so he lets AI help him name them (laughs)

PS: 260 votes, next update 4.5k...

Crimson Tide: 1921: Chapter 84: A Hit

"Om-"

As he was speaking, Malawiki saw from afar in the sky a large patrol plane of his own side slowly flying towards him.

The lower part of the fuselage is shaped like the bottom of a ship, the wings are upper monoplanes, and the four engines are deployed on the top. The propellers are above the water surface to prevent them from being damaged by sea water during takeoff and landing.

This is the heretic's "Eye of the True Seer" seaplane reconnaissance aircraft, which has been deployed at the Gibraltar Fortress. It can cruise at a speed of 255 km/h and has a range of 2130 kilometers.

It is this type of reconnaissance aircraft that provides the heretics' submarines in the Atlantic and Mediterranean with a large amount of information on merchant ships and warships, and is an important cornerstone of the heretics' submarine intelligence network.

It weighs more than ten tons and can fly for a long time at sea. At the same time, after landing on the sea, it can be resupplied by submarines or warships, making it a good helper for long-distance voyages.

At the same time, its characteristic of flying close to the sea surface allowed it to avoid early radar detection deployed by the Crusaders on the west coast of France and around Britain, causing the Crusaders a lot of headaches.

Malawiki and his advisors watched the reconnaissance plane from the bridge, watching it descend slowly from afar, following a smooth glide path. When the ship's bottom touched the sea, waves flew up, and the buoys on either side of the wings occasionally slapped the water.

The reconnaissance plane's speed slowed down, and finally, the propeller stopped turning, while the flying boat continued to slide forward, sliding forward, and at this time, it had turned into a ship.

When the reconnaissance plane stopped sliding on the sea, an inflatable boat was lowered and an officer rowed the boat towards the HHS-012 Sinking Pioneer.

"Report, we've detected something unusual during this flight," the officer said hurriedly. "We risked photographing the warships in Plymouth Harbor, and discovered that the two new battleships we expected to be anchored in the harbor are missing. The submarine force reports they're heading to Portsmouth Harbor, over 200 kilometers to the east."

"The escort fleet was so large that the submarine could not get close, so the photo may be a little blurry."

The heretic officer took out the photos he had developed in the darkroom of the reconnaissance plane during his return.

"what?"

The biggest target of this attack on Plymouth Harbor was the Crusaders' main battleships and heavy cruisers, but now——

“How many ships are there in the harbor?”

"According to the aerial photographs, the Revenge-class battleship HMS Royal Oak is anchored in the harbor, along with the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship HMS Barham, a Renown-class battlecruiser—it's unclear whether it's Renown or Repulse—and four cruisers."

"According to our spies in Scotland, there are three tanker formations heading south through the Strait of St. George and are anchored in Liverpool for loading and unloading. They have a draft of around 10,000 tons and are accompanied by a dozen small escort ships. Is this something we should pay attention to?"

This sudden change stunned Malawiki.

"Tanker?"

"Yes, the photos show it is a flatbed boat, and it matches the waterline, speed and appearance of an oil tanker."

"Then forget it. It won't cause any major waves. We need to temporarily change our plan now - have the reconnaissance plane look east at Portsmouth. If necessary, our fleet needs to risk crossing the English Channel."

Malawiki and his advisors were worried about the plan, and then, when the latest intelligence came, the entire fleet was in an uproar!

All the warships in Portsmouth Harbour were almost two-thirds of England's navy, including 9 battleships: HMS Warspite, HMS Elizabeth, HMS Warrior, HMS Revenge, HMS Resolution, HMS Sovereign, HMS Ramillies, HMS King George V, HMS Daring, 16 cruisers, 49 destroyers and 27 submarines.

TMD, I won the jackpot!

But Portsmouth was too close to England's mobile fortress anchored in London. If they could not quickly resolve the battle within three hours, by the time England's mobile fortress arrived, this heretic fleet would only be sending itself to death with its level.

Moreover, Portsmouth is already in the middle of the English Channel, and pigeon interceptors taking off from airports in southern France can also intercept their bombing formations...

"But... this big prize... two-thirds of the capital ships, the Lord of Hell—it's too tempting!"

But what is worrying is that the Plymouth naval base is basically empty and all the troops have been transferred to Portsmouth. Does this mean that the secret of the attack has been leaked?

The most important thing about a surprise attack is confidentiality. If the secret is leaked, your side will most likely be surrounded and annihilated.

This time, there were more than a hundred submarines patrolling the English Channel and participating in the attack. If the main fleet was surrounded and sunk by the Crusaders, the thousand-ton frigates scattered throughout the channel would definitely make these submarines suffer.

Malawiki immediately frowned, and at this moment, its expression seemed to be asking, should we terminate this mission?

The Hell Consultant looked at Malavic and knew what it was thinking. It couldn't help but think of the evaluation of the commanders of various legions in reality by a great noble of the royal court before leaving.

Although Malawiki has fought in Iberia for more than ten years, he is always petty-minded. He is satisfied with just the slightest advantage and is not enterprising.

Now it seems that this is indeed the case. This legion commander is so cautious that he becomes afraid at the slightest change in the enemy's behavior.

"How about we communicate with Hell?" Malavici said to himself.

As the commander-in-chief of the entire attack force, he did not need to consult with anyone, but now, he did not have the confidence to speak.

"Okay, but our plan has changed. We need to send more troops!" The consultant didn't care about his identity. He only remembered his mission. The royal court's order was that this battle must be fought beautifully and the Crusaders must be slapped in the face!

The wizard immediately cast a hell spell to avoid possible radio monitoring by the Crusaders - only ordinary mortal troops of the heretic legion would use radio, and real demons would use hell spells to transmit information.

Just because you found out that the enemy's battleships were moved to the nearby naval port, you are so helpless?

We must not be complacent after eating this small fish, Plymouth. The Crusaders' bombers have burned one-third of their own holy land, Jerusalem. It would be too embarrassing if our raid only sank two battleships.

A few hours later, the order from the Third Ring of Hell arrived.

"In the European continent, we will mobilize all aircraft towards the Papal States. Another bombing formation will head northwest across Switzerland to attract the attention of the French Air Force. At least half of the pigeon interceptors should be mobilized to southern France for interception.

The Mediterranean Fleet will send a squadron of two battleships and five cruisers to join your attack plan. You currently have a total of 370 long-range bombers, and it will take a day to transfer the formation. Please wait.

In addition, the heavy rocket-propelled armor-piercing bomb is now in the new fleet, and its 1666 kg charge can effectively destroy all armor from the top. "

"Excellent! The risks of the plan have been reduced to an acceptable level for us," said the consultant.

Malawiji strongly disagreed: "This is different from our planned attack. The planned attack was to focus on Plymouth, with only 40 bombers attacking other ports in the east - Portland and Portsmouth.

Now we're changing the main attack direction to Portsmouth—do you understand how big a risk we're taking? There are so many airfields along the way. A carrier pigeon interceptor, at a speed of 900 kilometers per hour, can reach our fleet from an airfield in just 20 minutes. That mobile fortress in the direction of London can arrive to support us in just over three hours.

I repeat, London is only 120 kilometres from Portsmouth."

"You're right, but we have hundreds of submarines. As long as the bombers can destroy the anti-submarine nets and coastal artillery, we can go in and destroy all these ships. And that's more than two-thirds of the battleships!"

"But what if we fail? A plan that's only being revised now - I have no hope." Malawiki was very pessimistic about the attack.

Niu Mo was an amateur guiding an expert, and the advice he gave based on his decades of combat experience in the human world was ignored, which made him feel desperate.

This hell is like eating a pill.

"No plan can guarantee the ability to keep up with changes. As a commander on the scene, you must learn to adapt to changing circumstances." The advisor said, "You don't need to tell me. The royal court has already appointed me as the overall commander of this operation."

"Now, the plan is revised."

——————Yue=yi|First&post%——

Following the advisor's order, the plan to bomb Plymouth Harbor was revised. To prevent the attacking fleet from being attacked from both sides, the bomber formation would first sink Plymouth's battleships, paralyze the port, and then the attacking fleet would enter the English Channel.

Above the attack fleet, the bomber unit was extremely excited after receiving the new order.

"Refresh your targets! We're going to attack the Plymouth battleships!" The captain of the 50th Squadron said to his men, "Everyone, brace yourself! If something goes wrong, even if it means a collision, sink the two Plymouth battleships!"

"We only have two heavy armor-piercing rocket-boosted bombs on our plane, and we must not waste them," said the team leader.

As a backup force, the 50th Squad can operate only a few weapons. There are only 13 newly produced bombs in the Hell Factory, and they only got two.

One bomb is assigned to each battleship, and whoever carries this bomb must complete the mission!

Almost everyone was scrambling to mount the bombs, and their desire to fight was very strong.

Plymouth Harbor.

The earliest known settlement here dates back to 1000 BC, when it was a small trading port during the Iron Age. Locals brought tin across the river to the port for use in trade with the Phoenicians. After becoming part of the Roman Empire, the port continued to trade tin, cattle, and leather.

In 1254 it became a market town and later became the first city chartered by the English Parliament on 12 December 1439. At the same time, the city's name was changed to Plymouth.

Ship repair yards, dry docks, fuel supply stations, docks and necessary naval facilities were built here, from which it was easy to radiate to the Atlantic Ocean. With the discovery of America, England attached greater importance to the port of Plymouth and built submarine and aviation bases here.

Compared with the North Atlantic's occasionally crazy sea conditions and a large number of heretical submarines, the calm waters of England are more suitable for merchant ships. Under the protection of the escort formation, merchant ships can even dock in Ireland for a rest before returning to the mainland.

Today was Sunday. Most of the high-ranking naval officers had already left their positions. Officers and soldiers were human beings too, and needed rest. Their families were mostly in Plymouth. This Sunday was a day for them to reunite with their families.

It was just dawn when, 220 nautical miles southwest of Plymouth, a huge fleet was accelerating at full speed.

Thick black smoke billowed from the chimneys of every battleship. The formation of bombers flying in the sky was faster than them and had already arrived at Plymouth Harbor.

The heretic pilot turned on the radio receiver and soon heard the sound of the radio. It was playing soft music. It was the voice of Plymouth Radio Station!

"Dear listeners, now the weather forecast is being broadcast. Today's weather is poor, cloudy, and the temperature will be between 26 and 30 degrees Celsius."

It was cloudy, just right for them to attack.

Start descending!

"Crusader battleships spotted ahead, prepare to attack!" the pilot shouted. It was as if the Lord of Hell was blessing them. The ground was full of humans. The two battleships were just anchored in the port, and no one was even operating the anti-aircraft guns!

...

On the bridge of the battleship Barham, Captain Charles A. Bonnar had an ominous premonition.

The weather is a bit gloomy and the sun is not visible.

"Would you like a glass of juice?" asked his first mate Thomas Hamilton from behind him.

He was holding two glasses of juice in his hands.

Charles took the juice and just put it to his mouth when he heard a sharp alarm.

"What's going on?" He shouted loudly with juice splashed on half his face. Then, someone hurried over to report: "Heretical bomber, our lookout has spotted a bomber in the sky!"

Bomber? When Charles heard the news, he instinctively wanted to say, today is not April Fools' Day!

But when he looked up and out the window of the bridge, he saw a heretic bomber diving towards his warship.

"Oh my God!" "Fire! Fire!"

The harbor lookout, faithful to his duty, immediately sounded the alarm when he saw the bombers swooping down from the clouds. After the entire ship sounded the air defense alarm, the anti-aircraft gunners quickly ran to their gun positions, and the sailors playing in the harbor quickly ran to their combat positions.

The Barham's main anti-aircraft weapon was a 5-inch 38-caliber anti-aircraft gun, which opened fire within tens of seconds.