Bismarck

Bismarck was still a little confused, and Lütjens continued to explain: "Crete doesn't have many supplies now. If their carrier-based aircraft want to participate in the battle, they can only return to their aircraft carriers to land. And this means that their aircraft carriers will definitely not be too far from Marama's location!"

"Zeppelin has sent 20 Stukas to patrol everywhere, and General Roll of the Fourth Air Army has 50 reconnaissance planes searching everywhere together with our reconnaissance planes. In addition, there are three fighter squadrons of fighters on the deck of Zeppelin on standby. With her air observation capability, the British have no chance of a surprise attack on us!"

"It only takes half an hour to forty-five minutes for our bombers to be on deck! - If it really doesn't work, we are so close to Greece, I can just shamelessly ask Roll for cover." When he said this, Lütjens himself laughed.

----------

"Commander, German reconnaissance plane spotted!"

On the bridge of the Warspite, Secretary Bailey was reporting to Cunningham.

"A German reconnaissance plane?" Cunningham calmly glanced at the standard time clock in the command tower. It was seven forty.

"Well, they should be here soon. To be honest, I thought they would come earlier." Cunningham's smiling expression and calm tone did not change at all. He turned around and asked War-weary: "Malama should be about to give up, right?"

"Yes, Commander. Although we have the support of ground anti-aircraft fire, their planes are increasing. However, the pilots have disrupted the formation of their airborne aircraft. General Freyberg just sent a communication saying that although the German Air Force's bombing is fierce, the situation at the airborne field can still be controlled." Secretary Belle flipped through the folder in her hand and reported to her admiral.

"Well, thanks to the radar of the squadron we deployed in Souda Bay, otherwise we really don't know that the Germans would use airborne operations to open the way first. But since the German airborne deployment has been disrupted, let them withdraw, and we will also retreat. Don't let the Germans bomb us." Cunningham's smiling expression disappeared, and he ordered seriously: "Order, the fleet will sail southeast, retreat against the wind, and the speed will be 24 knots. The entire fleet will be prepared for air defense! Order (Mediterranean Fleet Air Force Commander) Major General List, all remaining fighters will be on the flight deck! Also tell Freyberg to be careful of the bombardment of German battleships. But no matter what, we will act according to the predetermined plan!"

"Yes!"

-

"Report to the commander! Zeppelin sent a message that the first batch of reconnaissance planes we sent out at five o'clock discovered the British fleet in the ** Sea (150 kilometers south of Chania)! It includes at least 2 aircraft carriers and 1 battleship! It is heading southeast by south, with a speed of about 23 knots! In addition, according to the agreement made with the Air Force before the war, this message has been copied to the Fourth Air Force Group at the same time!"

"Can Zeppelin attack now?" asked Lutjens.

"Well... it takes forty-five minutes to lift the planes from the hangar, plus the fighters on the deck need to be released and vacated. And if it's a full-deck attack, it will probably take at least an hour and a half for all the attack aircraft to take off... In addition, the first wave of reconnaissance planes will land in two hours..." Bismarck used his perception ability to look at Zeppelin's flight deck and hangar, and after contacting Zeppelin to understand the deck cycle, he could only helplessly answer his fleet commander.

"Is that so...Okay, let me calculate. We'll take off in an hour and a half, and arrive over the British aircraft carrier in three hours...We'll still have time! Order the Zeppelin to prepare for takeoff as soon as possible! Also, send out the fighters on the deck to provide air cover!"

"Understood!" Bismarck quickly wrote down the order, and while standing at attention and saluting, he sent the combat order to Zeppelin via WIFI.

Zeppelin also found Bangtai without hesitation. Although the two were not as close as the other two couples, they were close comrades who could stand behind each other and go through life and death together.

"Captain, the commander has sent an attack order, I am going to lead the team to attack!" Zeppelin saluted Bangtai and reported.

"Well, you go, I'll be in charge of the operation of the Zeppelin!" Bangtai didn't say much, just nodded, then stood up from the captain's chair and stood next to the steering gear station.

There is no need to say too much between comrades who cooperate well with each other.

After informing Bontai, Zeppelin stood directly in front of the porthole and, through the loudspeaker on the aircraft carrier, began to command her subordinates in an orderly manner to adjust the fleet on the flight deck with her cold voice...

"Order: The second fighter squadron will take off immediately to carry out the formation's air defense escort mission!"

"Fourth Fighter Squadron, gather at the front of the flight deck and make room for the elevator! Once the space is cleared, the First, Second, and Third Bomber Squadrons will move to the rear of the flight deck, with two bombs and one torpedo deployed!"

"The order of take-off of the assault group: First the 4th Fighter Squadron, then the two dive bombing squadrons, and then the torpedo squadron. After the torpedo squadron takes off, the 5th Fighter Squadron in the standby area will go up to the flight deck and follow the main group!"

"After all the attack aircraft have taken off, the Third Fighter Squadron will go to the standby area and be ready to replace or reinforce the Second Fighter Squadron at any time! And be ready to receive the reconnaissance aircraft of the First Bomber Squadron that have landed - the above orders will be executed immediately! Prepare to attack!!"

The squadron commanders and ground crews of GR186 followed the order and left. The Zeppelin flight deck was immediately busy. The pilots and ground crews quickly lined up in two rows and checked that there were no dangerous debris on the runway. Soon, twelve FW190T fighters with auxiliary fuel tanks took off from the flight deck. The twelve BF190T109 fighters behind the twelve FW2s folded their wings again and were pushed to a small area at the front of the flight deck by the ground crew and fixed to the deck with steel cables. Almost at the same time, three elevators began to sink towards the hangar. After about three to five minutes, these elevators rose again. Compared with the empty state when they descended, when these elevators rose again, there was a JU87C2 bomber with folded wings and heavy bombs or airborne torpedoes on the elevators! As soon as the elevators came to a stop, the bombers on the elevators were pushed or pulled by the ground crew, and moved to the take-off area at the rear of the flight deck...

It's busy and bustling, but also in order! The military has very strict requirements for organization, division of labor, cooperation, and operational efficiency. But under the precise cooperation of these well-trained ground crews, it seems so smooth and natural, just like flowing water...

---------

But on the other side, the British Mediterranean Fleet is not the same...

"Radar detected an unidentified aircraft group! Air raid! German air raid!!" the radar soldier's shout echoed in the bridge of the British battleship.

"Sound the air defense alarm! Anti-aircraft guns and damage control are in place! Report the enemy situation to the flagship and friendly forces!!" The captains of the warships responded quickly, worthy of the British Empire Royal Navy's three hundred years of dominance over the ocean...

"The anti-aircraft guns and damage control teams are in place!!" Soon, the gunners of each British warship began to report their combat readiness to the captains.

"About seventy planes, sixty miles away, four thousand feet high, closing at a rate of one hundred miles per hour!!" In the command tower of the Warspite, Secretary Belle, who had quickly summarized the enemy situation report, was reporting the enemy situation to Admiral Cunningham.

"It's only half past eight, they're coming so fast!" Cunningham glanced at the wall clock, his expression solemn. "Order! The entire fleet should be prepared for air defense! Also order (Mediterranean Fleet Air Force Commander) List to immediately organize carrier-based fighters to take off and intercept!!"

"clear!!"

Soon, on the bridge of the HMS Illustrious aircraft carrier, Major General Lister, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet Air Force, received an order from the flagship HMS Warspite.

"The flagship ordered our carrier-based fighters to take off immediately?! Okay, we will do it..."

However, Liszt was still a little depressed: "Damn it, how come these Germans came so fast!!"

Following the depressed complaint, he slammed his fist onto the chart table.

"I think, they either planned it for a long time and waited in advance, or they are a group of miscellaneous bombers temporarily assembled. Otherwise, considering the distance between us and the Peloponnese Peninsula and their speed, it is absolutely impossible for them to fly to our vicinity in an hour - but I think, judging by the range of their fighter jets, this group of planes is most likely the latter." Captain Boyd, the captain of the Glorious and the culprit of Taranto, supported his chin with one hand and analyzed with a frown.

"Well, that makes sense - but if this wave is a temporary assembly, they should have sent out a special anti-ship aircraft group for the next wave. However, there are at least seventy or eighty aircraft in this group alone... The SBD Dreadnoughts must be on standby for battle now, and there are only more than fifty European Geese that can be deployed immediately, which may not be able to stop the second wave..." Major General Lister nodded, agreeing with the analysis of his like-minded subordinate and friend.

"I think we should send out two squadrons to intercept first, and the others should be on the deck as a reserve. We must stop this wave first. If the loss is too great, we can send the Dreadnoughts to take over!" Colonel Boyd spread his hands helplessly, but then he smiled as if he had thought of something: "Although Field Marshal List (Wilhelm List), the commander-in-chief of the army who conquered the Balkan Peninsula, is your relative, but Goering's lackeys are really ruthless when they attack your relative~"

"Go to hell, you are the one who is related to these Nazis!" Major General Lister (Lumley Lyster) was so angry that he punched Boyd with a smile. But soon, Lister turned around and shouted to his subordinates: "Order: Formidable and Indomitable, take off the European Geese fighters, and prepare a batch of SBDs to drop bombs on the deck for emergency interception! Illustrious...Illustrious only brought TBD torpedo planes, so let the Illustrious European Geese stand by on the deck! Be ready to take off at any time! - In addition, inform this deployment to the flagship!"

"Yes!" The subordinates took the order and left.

ps: I don’t want to move at all... I’m already a salted fish

Chapter 405: Helpless bombing of the sea

Twenty Heinkel He-111 bombers and twenty-eight Stuka dive bombers, escorted by two Bf-109 fighter squadrons, flew over the 1800-meter peaks in the western mountains of Crete, and formed a search formation towards the chart coordinates released by the Zeppelin aircraft carrier half an hour ago and the direction in which the enemy fleet might maneuver!

They were a group of aircraft that temporarily changed their targets.

Originally, these were two medium bomber squadrons that were scheduled to bomb Chania, and a dive bomber brigade that planned to perform close air support over the Crete battlefield, commonly known as driving trucks to drop bombs. However, the German Air Force Command was afraid that the British aircraft carrier would run away, so they called them together and extracted two fighter squadrons with sufficient fuel from the fighters performing air combat patrols over Crete to provide escort.

After all, if the battleship could be sunk, it would be more impressive for the German Air Force and prove that the air force was more powerful than the navy. Ever since Zeppelin came out and fought against the British fleet at sea, the importance of carrier-based aircraft has become increasingly prominent.

Although as a land-based air force, anti-ship bombing was not their main training direction, and even the bombs they carried were originally intended to bomb British positions on Crete. However, in the current German Air Force, under the performance of the Zeppelin and the pressure from the country on the other side of the Atlantic, anti-ship attacks were no longer seen as a waste of time as before. For ordinary German fighters, anti-ship training was sometimes mentioned, and it was no longer believed that the Air Force should not attack targets at sea.

Not to mention, just before the battle began, due to the almost inevitable need to fight the British fleet, these pilots had received some crash training in anti-ship attacks.

For example, attacking a target ship on the sea. However, due to the different environments on land and sea, the normal attack rate is not very high - except for the Stuka.

But even land-based high-explosive bombs can cause some damage to warships, right? Not to mention a whole squadron of Stukas. With their hit rate, even if they were carrying 250KG-class high-explosive bombs, as long as a ship below a heavy cruiser was hit by one, it would be seriously injured at such a high altitude!

Even if we can't sink the British battleships, we will bomb them until they are covered in wounds!

With this in mind, the German aircraft group rushed towards the calculated position of the British aircraft carrier on the sea, and soon encountered 4 FF European Goose fighters released by the British fleet...

The German fighter planes immediately rushed forward. During the high-speed relative motion, the interception window was very short. At the moment of head-on encounter, the machine guns of both sides opened fire at the same time.

A dense firepower network was set up in the airspace thousands of meters high, just like the encounter between medieval knights, revealing their sharp lances.

After a stagger, black smoke came out from some fighter planes, and some discordant torches appeared in the clear blue sky. Then some out-of-control warplanes began to fall to the ground, some were British, and some were German.

Unlike battles at sea which can sometimes last for hours, battles in the air are decided in an instant. Sometimes human nerve reflexes cannot even keep up with the rhythm of the battle, and opportunities are fleeting, so everything can only be done subconsciously.

Live subconsciously, or die subconsciously.

After leaving behind a few fighter planes, the British broke through the blockade of German fighter planes and rushed towards the bomber group behind without slowing down. The two German fleets in front also turned around and chased after them aggressively. After all, the bombers were their targets.

The cluster of bombers immediately began to disperse, and the various self-defense weapons on board began to fire, but the types of aircraft limited the gap between the two sides.

The British fighters soon encountered the bomber formations. The German pilots were terrified as they heard holes being punched in the fuselage skin. They could only pray that their planes could survive.

God hears some prayers and ignores others.

Bombers kept falling from the fleet.

After the first wave of attacks ended, the British turned around and began to chase the bombers again. However, at this time, German fighter planes appeared again.

Then they fought to the death...

--------

At the same time, a group of aircraft started taking off from the flight deck of the Zeppelin.

The bow of the ship was pointed towards the wind and the power was turned to maximum. The fierce wind on the deck made it difficult for the crew to walk, but such conditions were perfect for fighter planes to take off.

At the front of all the fighters, a BF109T2 fighter painted with edelweiss was the first to leap out of the flight deck, followed by the 109 BF2T190 fighters of the 109th Fighter Squadron. The newly equipped FW500 fighters had extremely abnormal high-speed and dive combat capabilities, but they were not good at high altitudes and climbing. Therefore, the BF740 fighters, which had better high altitude and climbing performance, took on the task of supporting the sky for these dive monsters. Behind them were the 87 JU2C190 bombers that were neatly arranged and about to take off, each carrying a KG bomb and a KG torpedo. And in the parking area on the port side at the back, there were FW fighters from the rd Fighter Squadron waiting. As long as the Stukas of the three squadrons took off, they would then drive onto the flight deck, and finally catch up from the back of the fleet with the speed of the fighters.

Bangtai stood beside the helmsman on the bridge, holding a telescope and watching the war eagles take off in an orderly manner. He didn't know what he was thinking, but there seemed to be a slight smile on the corner of his mouth. But at this moment, a "report" sounded from the door, pulling Bangtai back to his thoughts:

"The Fourth Air Army sent a report that the **th dive bomber group, the **th and **th medium bomber squadrons, and the **th and **th fighter squadrons are fighting with the British F150F on the sea 4 kilometers south of Chania... The news has been reported to the flagship!!"

"Inform GR186 of this news, and inform the Air Force of the Zeppelin fleet's deployment - don't let them mistake our people for British and attack them. Those brainless people in the Air Force have always been like this..." Bangtai, who was standing next to the helmsman, said without turning his head.

Although, in fact, there was no need to inform Zeppelin... What's more, in Bonte's words, there was still a hint of resentment that came from the German destroyer fleet, towards the German Air Force's indiscriminate bombing in the early days of the war...

Zeppelin was boarding a plane. She didn't need a flight helmet or anything like that, so she let her long golden hair fly in the wind.

She smiled at the ground crew, put her leather boots on the footrests, and stepped onto the wing neatly.

As soon as she sat in the cabin, she heard Bangtai's words and couldn't help laughing.

Bangtai came up on a destroyer fleet, and she knew that the Air Force had mistakenly bombed a destroyer, so was this Bangtai's complaint?

"Okay, I got it." Zeppelin's voice, unable to hide his smile, suddenly came from the loudspeaker, which stunned Bangtai for a moment.

"Then let's go."

The propeller started and Edelweiss took off into the wind.

--

"They actually used a formation of planes and high-altitude horizontal bombing against the ship? ... Are they really the bombers that the Germans brought in temporarily?"

Looking at the HE100 fleet that was stubbornly arranged in a square formation and laying a horizontal carpet with 111KG bombs at an altitude of meters above their heads, under the dense anti-aircraft fire and the pursuit of European Goose fighters, Captain Boyd, Major General Lister, Secretary Bailey and Cunningham, all looked disdainful.

"It seems that the Germans' ordinary aircraft have not undergone complete anti-sea attack training." Secretary Bailey said.

"I want to see how many of us they can hit with this kind of attack."

"Avoid it and let Germany see!"

"Yes!"

This bombing mode has a great deterrent effect when bombing land targets. The "wall" of death formed by the flames of bomb explosions and the smoke of collapsed buildings is very shocking. However, even for fixed solid point targets on land, or even small surface targets like docks that are hundreds of meters long and dozens of meters wide, the effect of this bombing can only be described as hehe. Apart from the shocking light and shadow effects, it has no effect at all. Most of the bombs are wasted on the open ground, and it is just a fireworks display that costs a lot of money. Moreover, the warships in the sea are even more active targets!!

They can hide, escape, and fight back with radar-guided, precise and fierce anti-aircraft firepower. Not to mention, this is not just a battleship, but a fleet! A tightly guarded fleet with three aircraft carriers and dozens of escort fighters! !

Besides, judging from the number of bombs dropped and the splashes produced by the explosions, it goes without saying that they were light bombs used for ground bombing. Although the weight of a 100KG bomb is equivalent to that of a 203mm shell, and the dozens of kilograms of explosives can also create a sufficiently high splash, they are, after all, land-based high-explosive bombs with weak penetration. Moreover, these bombers used a bombing mode that would most likely miss a ship even if it was parked for you to hit...

On the contrary, the slightly slower dive bombers following the twin-engine bombers were more threatening. The Stuka's dive attack mode could accurately drop bombs on top of the battleships, and the energy brought by the dive was enough to deliver bombs to cruisers and destroyers whose horizontal decks were not thick. For the British, they were priority targets for concentrated fire.

"Attack those Stukas first, don't let them get close, tell Lister's fighters this."

"Yes, I understand."

On the one hand, Bailey conveyed Cunningham's words to the aircraft carrier, and on the other hand, she mobilized all her anti-aircraft guns and fired mercilessly at the Stukas that broke through.

The firepower was so precise that it could be shot point by point, forming a dense fire network. What Bismarck did to the British fighter planes was also retaliated against the Germans.

Soon, a Stuka flew into the sky with a broken wing.

The howl is indeed a howl, but unfortunately it is just a wail...

-----

In fact, using twin-engine bombers to disrupt the formation first and then using dive bombers to attack accurately is also a tactical idea. But the problem is... the current location of the British fleet is 300 kilometers away from the German airport!

The range of the land-based BF109 is not very long. It is fine for short-range escort, but it is a bit difficult to fly over the sea. Moreover, this batch of aircraft are the ones that previously performed combat patrol missions on Crete, and they have a certain fuel consumption. At this range, the time for air combat is severely limited. If they fight for one more minute in the air, they will most likely not be able to return to the airport!

The BF109F fighter's stronger combat capability than the F4F fighter could not be brought into play at all. Instead, its endurance was slightly weaker than the latter, and it was "fully utilized" by the opponent right at the doorstep...and without the cover of the BF109F, how could the JU87D possibly be a match for the combined suppression of the Wildcat and the fleet's anti-aircraft firepower?

This battle was actually a failed case in which the Germans were intercepted by the well-rested British after a long-distance attack. It seemed that there were many fighter planes and a large formation, but the strength was not fully exerted. The fighter planes had to return in a short time, and the bombers had low accuracy...

Amid the tracer bullets and the sparks of anti-aircraft gun explosions, fireballs with black smoke falling into the Mediterranean Sea would appear from time to time in the sky. Without fighter escorts, the bombers were no different from running naked. In response, the German Air Force's tactical channels were also filled with hysterical screams...

Listening to the hysterical cries for help and assistance on the radio, Zeppelin, who was rushing over with his large fleet of 54 planes over a hundred kilometers away, couldn't help but frown.

These guys really need some good training...

"Captain, this..."

"What a useless guy... Never mind, let's keep moving forward and get to the battlefield as soon as possible!"

Major General Lister and Admiral Cunningham, who had just finished this farce-like air battle, also felt something and began to ask each ship and fighter to report the ammunition loss...

ps: So tired...

Chapter 406: I don’t want to give a name, continue from the previous chapter~

"…Sixteen enemy planes were shot down and twenty-one were damaged. Our side lost six European Geese and suffered seventeen damages. One pilot was confirmed killed, seven were injured, and two others were not found…Two destroyers were damaged by near misses and took on water. The damage has been basically controlled now…" In the bridge of the Warspite, Secretary Bailey was reporting the statistical results of the previous air battle to Cunningham.

"…My fleet suffered minor losses, except…the average loss of ammunition and fuel for the European Geese that were just dispatched has reached one-third, and the highest loss is more than 40%…In addition, the anti-aircraft ammunition of the four destroyers and the Sirius anti-aircraft cruiser that were in the direction of the German aircraft group's attack has also been nearly 30%…"

The number of casualties was not large, but looking at the loss of ammunition, War-weary and Cunningham both looked worried.

This is just a fleet...