Bismarck

"Don't give me that. You have it! If I say you have it, you have it!"

Although Hitler's voice was so hoarse that it was hard to hear clearly on the dedicated line, the Fuhrer's angry roar was at the EX level. Even though the telephone line was hundreds of kilometers away, Raeder felt that his old face could not bear it. The flustered old Raeder tried to defend his navy, but the Fuhrer's temper would not stop until he was dry-mouthed.

"Raeder, go and ask him right now what kind of plane Lütjens is working on! We could fight a good battle when we were alone, but now with the help of four ship girls and Kumets, the battle is getting worse and worse. What the hell is going on! It took us seven hours to travel 200 kilometers at sea, an average of 30 kilometers per hour! This is a snail's pace! The British and Americans are not together, this is a good time to defeat them one by one! So hurry up!..." After yelling for half an hour, Hitler, whose throat was so hoarse that he couldn't even shout, gave the order in a humming voice and hung up the phone.

The Admiral of the Navy, who had finally survived the Fuehrer's wrath and was scolded over the phone line, had a furious expression on his face, but he could only wipe his face hurriedly and sigh secretly.

Then he ran into the telegraph room in person: "Lütjens, the Führer asked about your current situation?!"

"Captain, Raeder has called to ask what's going on."

On the other side of the ocean, Bismarck, who had just ended a great naval and air battle, had just reported the battle statistics to his captain when he received a telegram directly from the German naval headquarters.

"What's going on?" Lütjens, who had just finished fighting and whose mind was still not fully clear, was a little stunned. But he soon thought of his own reply:

"...We just used the regional air defense tactic to repel the enemy's second air attack. The British Navy's aircraft carrier formation was severely damaged by me, and now they are retreating to the west. But Tovey still has three aircraft carriers, and their battleships and other ships have not been lost. The movements of the US fleet have been unclear, but it must be nearby... My fleet is currently fully damaged, with a speed of only 73 knots, including the reinforcement aircraft group, and there are 83 carrier-based aircraft, and the missiles have been used up...; Kumets did not suffer any losses, and he still has aircraft... Now the organization of the carrier-based aircraft wing is in chaos. Although according to the Air Force's operating mode, different squadrons landing at different airports does not affect combat, but the flight decks are all crowded, and we can only go out after midnight."

Along with the sound of a telegram ticking, the telegram decrypted by the Admiralty's cipher machine was directly handed to Raeder, who was squatting at the door of the confidential room. For the sake of work efficiency, after reading it, he could directly ask the coder in charge of the ciphered telegram to type a reply: "The Führer said that you should attack quickly. He is very dissatisfied with the speed of your advance. He just grabbed me and yelled at me, saying that we only traveled 200 kilometers in seven hours at sea..."

Lütjens and Persian Cat looked at each other after receiving the telegram, their faces also confused: "This is not right! Kumets' aircraft carrier can only reach 25 knots, and we have been attacked three times. It will take time to repair the ship, reorganize the fleet and accommodate the aircraft, right?"

"I know that, but there's nothing I can do... The Führer said that he's urging you to 'defeat them one by one' now while the Americans are not in the war zone." Looking at another reply, Raeder smiled bitterly. While dictating the message, he was thinking about whether he should take Lütjens's news of "destroying two Allied aircraft carriers and five light aircraft carriers" as a battle report and use it to fool the mustache guy or something.

But it’s no wonder that the Führer couldn’t see the situation clearly.

They said they would defeat them one by one, but there were terrain barriers on land, and the armored forces would also experience severe mechanical wear during the march, so the nominal maximum speed of 50 to 60 kilometers could only reach 30 to 40 kilometers. However, for a naval assault, even if the fleet speed was generally slower than the full speed of a single ship for various reasons, it was still easy to run 50 to 60 kilometers in an hour if they really tried their best!

Don’t be fooled by the army’s constant talk of blitzkrieg. The real “blitzkrieg” refers to the navy, which relies on the high speed and attack power of aircraft carriers and missiles, as well as the long range of carrier-based aircraft!

Although it seems that the Americans are not on the battlefield, it can be imagined that their positions are either along the coast of Portugal or in the deep Atlantic Ocean. If they really attack at full speed in seven hours, plus the range of carrier-based aircraft, the threat range will be at least one thousand kilometers!

Now Lütjens is just over 200 kilometers away from Brest, and Tovey is at least kilometers away from Brest. If the Americans entered the battlefield from outside, wouldn't it be normal that the reconnaissance planes have not found any signs until now?

Now the flight decks of our three aircraft carriers are all packed, and the naval aviation brigade that has been sent to reinforce them from the mainland has also been filled in. There is no way to deploy aircraft in the short term! If we underestimate the enemy and advance recklessly, I'm afraid we will sink in battle? !

Not to mention, the two modified aircraft carriers of the Kuchui fleet have a speed of only 25 knots. Even if they want to chase, they can't catch up with the enemy. If they underestimate the enemy and advance rashly, they may be blocked by the enemy, and they won't be able to escape!

If his leader suffered a disastrous defeat on the Eastern Front, he could mobilize the whole country to accumulate capital and then turn the tables, but on his side...

There is really no new ship in the military production plan, not even a destroyer! (Shock)

"Okay, Lütjens, be careful. After all, all the navy's battleships are in your hands now, and this time you used missiles to severely damage the British fleet, so you have an explanation... Safety first, send out reconnaissance planes to search several suspicious sea areas and find out the location of the American fleet before deciding on the next step."

"Okay, that's all."

After receiving Raeder's telegram, Lütjens thought for a long time before nodding and handing the telegram to the secretary ship beside him: "Bismarck, has Zeppelin landed?"

"It has already landed, and the ground crew is giving her priority to refuel." Bismarck was slightly stunned and understood his captain's thoughts: "Captain, now the decks of our three aircraft carriers are full, and we can only send out a few reconnaissance planes. Which direction should we let Zeppelin scout first?"

"Cape Feistra!" Without thinking, Lütjens made a decision on the spot: "The FW-200 reconnaissance planes of the Navy are still active in the Atlantic, but the situation in Cape Feistra and the Portuguese waters has been unclear until now, and there is not even an echo - you tell Zeppelin, I not only suspect that the US fleet is nearby, I also suspect that they have at least one aircraft carrier! Because Zeppelin herself can perfectly intercept the opponent's reconnaissance planes, so there must be something wrong with the reconnaissance planes over there not being able to send back any news!! In addition, Yeguanakumets said that our sailing direction should move a little bit towards Brest - his aircraft carrier has a slow speed and poor defense, so it is better to be conservative now and not to wipe them out in one fell swoop!"

"Yes! I understand!" Seeing the captain's serious face, Bismarck also became serious and immediately contacted Zeppelin.

How could I not know the fighting power of this good sister who was dragged back from the Gdynia timber dock? If others didn't know, how could I not know? If the other side had an aircraft carrier, even if the fleet was right at the doorstep, it would probably be a tough battle...

At the end of 109 and , the full moon at midnight gradually rose from the quiet sea and sky. Under the rising moonlight, the Edelweiss fighter planes, which had just been refueled and filled with ammunition, and several reconnaissance BF-s took off from the flight decks of three aircraft carriers and headed for several unknown seas that seemed most likely - the Celtic Sea in the northwest, the central North Atlantic in the west, and the most dangerous Cape Fisterra Sea in the southwest, which had not received any response! The Zeppelin with the auxiliary fuel tank was responsible for the reconnaissance of this sea area!

For the entire main fleet of the German war navy, the New Year's Day of 1943 passed slowly in such a mysterious and busy atmosphere. The waning moon rising slowly in the southeast was like a half-open eye in the sky, silently watching everything as if it were a straw dog.

Just an hour later, the Edelweiss fighter, which was concentrating on searching the sea area in the area around Cape Fisterra, looked at the deep sky in front of it under the moonlight, and suddenly felt a sense of danger in his heart. In an instant, his eyes fixed...

"Emergency Zeppelin report! Five aircraft carriers from Cape Feistra! ... And... they have three aircraft carrier girls!!"

PS: Historically, during World War II, the Soviet Union had only one large port in the Pacific Ocean, Vladivostok. Nakhotsk was started in 40 but was interrupted by the war. It was not until 44 that it was resumed and put into use after the war. In fact, the Far East shipping throughput in 1940 was less than 20% of the total Soviet shipping throughput (it only broke through 1950% in 20), and large-scale development of the shipping industry was a later thing. As for the so-called Arctic Ocean route, it has only shown its shipping value since 2000 because of the greenhouse effect, which has led to a significant shrinkage of summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. It also requires icebreaker escort. Even now, not many ships take this route.

Completely different from the so-called "neutrality" of Japan, the war caused heavy losses to Soviet Pacific shipping: the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island were both Japanese-occupied islands, and the Soviet Far East ports were almost completely blocked! From 1940 to 1944, the Soviet Far East Shipping Company lost 185 of its 165 merchant ships, and even basic channel dredging and infrastructure maintenance could not be guaranteed. Not to mention merchant ships, even Soviet warships had to hide all the way from Europe to the Far East: in 1942, the Soviet L-15 submarine was sunk by the Japanese submarine I-25 on its way from the United States to the Soviet Union, and Stalin did not dare to say anything.

PS2：历史上的苏联冬季大反击战，1942年11月-1943年3月（所以完全不需要问为什么书里德军输的这么惨，因为历史上就是这么惨）

Chapter 843: Equally matched opponents

When receiving Zeppelin's emergency report, Bismarck, Lütjens, Kumetz, Bonte, Lindemann, Top, even Eugen, and even the heartless hamster Grapes, were all dumbfounded for a moment.

The American fleet with five aircraft carriers has already gotten within a very close distance, but among these five aircraft carriers there are actually three aircraft carrier girls.

This news is terrible...

"Zeppelin, Zeppelin, how are you now?"

Bismarck on the WIFI started shouting anxiously.

"I'm fine, and don't shout! Use the code - keep it secret, you know!"

Zeppelin's voice was very low, and he was obviously gritting his teeth. Although Bismarck didn't know her specific situation, it must be very difficult to deal with three beings of the same level at the same time - especially, the opponents on the opposite side were completely unfamiliar to them, and they didn't even know the names of the three American ship girls on the opposite side...

"Okay, then you..."

Bismarck was obviously aware that the enemy's situation was completely unclear, so she was so anxious - in fact, the "cyberspace communication confidentiality agreement" between German ship girls was originally proposed by her after it was discovered that it was eavesdropped by Warspite during the Battle of Zawiyat Zanzur.

"I'm fine... Bismarck, tell the commander that this is indeed a trap - they are now in the XXX sea area, more than 430 kilometers away from us, and our anti-aircraft missiles are only 400 kilometers away from us..." Zeppelin reported the details of the battlefield while fighting. Finally, he said: "Don't worry about me, I have plenty of ways to get out."

"Well... okay, then you just be careful." Bismarck said in a worried tone.

However, Zeppelin was away at sea, so she had no other options. In the end, she could only turn around with worry, and discuss the fleet's retreat with her captain...

"I know. Don't worry."

Zeppelin responded absentmindedly, but he did not dare to delay the action. He pulled the joystick hard, and the BF-109 fighter with the Edelweiss logo dodged another group of F6F Hellcats attacking from both sides.

However, there are still many crises at this moment!

Zeppelin could feel that this opponent was completely different from the previous Royal Navy pilots!

Amidst the large number of enemy aircraft, an F6F Hellcat fighter that followed closely behind her and tried every means to get to the six o'clock position directly behind her tail was very conspicuous! The opponent's flying skills and the high-speed maneuverability of the F6F fighter can be said to have reached the point of man-machine integration. Even she could not get rid of this opponent no matter what!

Zeppelin, who knew very well how difficult it was to train as a pilot, had a stern look in his eyes that was almost solid!

Zeppelin knew very well that the so-called flying level could not be achieved simply by relying on aircraft performance or simple hard training.

Although many people say that surviving on the battlefield depends on luck, she has never counted on her luck!

Most pilots have learned flight theory, and it is the basics. But in the brutal actual combat, pilots often fight not with flight qualification certificates, but with experience, reaction, instinct, and even intuition - these things are based on years of training and experience, and the reflex nerves react subconsciously in the split second.

But in her opinion, a true ace must not only have the ability to understand and judge the evolving trends of the ever-changing battlefield situation, but also have an absolutely calm and resolute mentality and a level of flight control that is so meticulous that not even the slightest error can be made.

If your mentality is unstable, you will definitely not be able to perform at the theoretical level in a life-and-death combat - even in the moment of life and death that determines victory or defeat; and if your skills are not good enough, the "action efficiency" of the aircraft in the complex air combat will be slower than others, and the gap in action efficiency will gradually accumulate and eventually become a fatal situation gap!

Strictly speaking, it is not difficult to practice flying movements until they become instinctive, and any pilot who has been practicing for a certain period of time can do it. However, although instinct has a very fast reaction speed, it is only at the level of conditioned reflex!

It was just a subconscious reflex, not a rational reaction that could understand the cause and effect in an instant, nor could it be said to be meticulously controlled. This kind of "instinct" action of stress reflex was completely subconscious! Which direction should the action go? How big should it be? What should be done next? Will the result of the action be effective? Or ineffective? It might even put you directly under the opponent's gun...

This kind of "taking chance" conditioned reflex cannot be compared with her ability to rely on rational judgment and subtle control to make the most rational, appropriate and perfect response at any time!

Only God knows the result of uncontrollable "conditioned reflex". Relying on something like luck to save your life... first of all, it is irresponsible to yourself!

As for attack efficiency? That's even more incomparable - one relies on continuous attacks to "accumulate" achievements, while she actively controls and grasps the entire battle situation based on her own judgment. This alone makes them incomparable!

But for Zeppelin, her flying skills are on another level entirely!

No matter when and where, she can have a clear view of the entire battle situation; and no matter when and where, even in the most dangerous moment, she can firmly control her plane and make precise tactical moves, adjusting her posture to the most split-second time window - although she is not human, her flying skills and thinking judgment have long reached the pinnacle!

She is able to subdue human instincts at any time, instead of being affected by instincts and losing her life due to imprecise "wrong operations" at critical moments when the battlefield situation is unclear... If ordinary super ace fighters rely on intuition and luck to "mix" hundreds of victories in continuous attacks, then she relies on her control over the battle situation and the state of man-machine unity!

Just like that time on the battlefield in North Africa, when Marseille's plane, who had not yet died, malfunctioned and suddenly flipped over when he parachuted, she controlled her Edelweiss fighter, aimed at the right position, used the right speed, and gently "tapped" it with the right force at the right moment.

This is the real difference between her and the average "super ace"!

only……

It is easy to know the theory and it is not difficult to practice hard. However, to train flying skills to this level, what you need to grasp is to thoroughly master the instincts of the human body, and more importantly, to control your own mentality, consciousness and reason - it may not be a big deal for her, but for human pilots, this is tantamount to challenging their own physiological instincts!

Even if Zeppelin took part in the battle personally and trained her aces until they became collectively airsick every day, no one under her command could truly grasp this point.

No one knows better than her how difficult it is to reach the state of man-machine integration, but here she saw one!

Because her realm is the unity of man and machine that will never make mistakes, even if the opponent's operation is slightly inaccurate, she will throw him off - but until now, this guy has not made even the slightest mistake!

How could this not shock her!

Moreover, if Zeppelin's perception was correct, although the pilot on this F6F was a human, there seemed to be some kind of trace of the existence of a ship girl on the body of the aircraft - with her rich combat experience, how could she not know that it was the opponent's ship girl who was "blessing" this fighter! But... no matter whether she really practiced the unity of man and machine or relied on the blessing of the ship girl, it was an indisputable fact that she had no way to deal with this guy now!

In fact, even if a pilot has truly reached the level of man-machine integration, he will still consume physical energy while flying, and high-G maneuvers will be affected by black vision/red vision, and may even cause fainting or even cerebral hemorrhage!

However, with the help of the ship girls, the physical stress and energy consumption of the pilots in air combat will probably be reduced to a level where the loss of physical strength and energy can almost be completely ignored!

In this way, this F6F is on the same level as mine in terms of combat efficiency and physical endurance!

Zeppelin's expression was extremely solemn - such an opponent who could completely rival him, even if it was the group of pilots under his command, if they encountered such an opponent, they would probably be beaten into a turkey hunt by this guy alone!

(F15F-David Eagle King McCampbell, the commander of the AG-6 carrier-based aircraft wing of the USS Essex, has the following skills: Turkey Hunting Competition - Suppressing the firepower of an opposing aircraft carrier)

Moreover, apart from this F6F whose flying level was no less than his own, there were also several tough characters among the other American pilots - right next to this man-machine integrated F6F, there was another F6F team of four. They worked in groups of two, and the two groups took turns to work closely with the man-machine integrated aircraft, constantly carrying out various types of double-wing attacks around them!

It was like a pair of sharp scissors, one cut followed by another, making a continuous snapping sound in the sky!

(USS Yorktown F6F-John Thatch Team Historical Tactical Skills: Thatch Cut)

In addition to these five most threatening aircraft, there are dozens of F6Fs and F4Us on the periphery of the battlefield. Although compared with the existence of the man-machine combination and the other four enemy aircraft that cooperated tacitly, they did not have enough strength to fight against themselves. But... this time, the behavior of these "small fish" was the same as before, relying on their numerical advantage to blindly attack themselves - and then because of the lack of tacit cooperation and coordination between each other, they were finally killed by themselves. The brainless behavior was completely different! Instead, they dispersed in an extremely fast and well-organized manner - even ignoring the adverse effects of the vast night, using their criss-crossing tracks, under a certain meticulous and artistic command rhythm, they quickly wove a sparse and leaky sky net, layer upon layer, densely covering the entire moonlit starry sky.

Even Zeppelin felt despair when he saw such an organized and clearly defined lineup!

Even if Zeppelin's single-plane combat capability is enough to crush any group of enemy fighters, she is now being besieged by the F6Fs behind her that are capable of chasing her soul and taking her life. How can she have the energy to deal with the outer encirclement?

Such ingenious command and deployment capabilities are simply another replica of her own early warning and command fighter jets!

(USS Saratoga skill: Pioneer of Aviation Tactics)

Watching the encirclement in the sky gradually take shape, and then gradually tighten, the space available for Zeppelin to maneuver was squeezed more and more cramped! But even so, Zeppelin still gritted his teeth, summoned up his remaining strength, exerted all his strength, and supported himself in the desperate situation.

Although she was not sorely defeated, as her main body was not here, even if she lost a plane, it would not be a big deal. However, before that, she had to at least be able to collect some information about the other party - even if it was just a tiny bit of information!

War is all about information, and understanding your opponent is obviously one of the most important pieces of information!

Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win every battle. But the current situation is that the enemy knows everything about you, and you can only feel that the enemy is three aircraft carriers, but you can't figure out which one is the name of the ship!

Before you get shot down, you should at least get more information about the enemy ship girl!

The Edelweiss Witch gritted her teeth and continued to rush left and right in the desperate sky, fighting like a trapped beast - at the same time, she was observing the abnormal signs of the opposing fleet as much as possible, and inferring the opponent's possible capabilities and combat intentions.

Under the waning moon, the encirclement in the sky seems to be getting tighter and tighter...

PS: The United States Navy Aircraft Carrier Task Force (Commander: Vice Admiral Frank Fletcher Jr.) has 5 aircraft carriers, 10 destroyers, 240 carrier-based fighters (F6F, F4U), and 240 carrier-based attack aircraft (SBD, SB2C, TBF).

Saratoga: Pioneer of aviation tactics, Robin (ship R), Fleet Carrier (ship B)

Essex: Turkey Hunt (Ship R), Battleship (Ship B) Hero Machine: McCampbell

Enterprise: One Tree in the Forest (Ship R), Lucky EX (Ship B) Hero Machine: McCluskey, Best, Fleming

Yorktown (not Fletcher's flagship): Thatch Shear (R), Revenge Strike (B) Hero Machine: Thatch

Hornet (not a shipgirl): Assault aircraft carrier (ship B) Unsinkable battleship (historical fact)

PS2：看看推演表上仅剩的95架109和66架190（已扣除齐伯林现在的座机），正在考虑上边的航母大队技能是不是太强，需不需要用锉刀锉一点点……

Chapter 844: Three-sided attack

The news that five aircraft carriers, including three aircraft carriers, and a large number of US warships were marching into Biscay Bay was sent to the Wolf's Lair headquarters via an emergency telegram.

The mustache man was already overworked with the tense situation on the Eastern Front and had a splitting headache. Moreover, due to the large number of affairs and heavy worries, even the sleeping pills were ineffective. Even after taking the sleeping pills, he was half asleep and half awake, and was pulled up from the camp bed again by Bauman who came running over in a hurry.

Then, he was frightened to death by the news that five aircraft carriers, three ship girls and a large number of main fleets suddenly rushed into the battlefield. He sat up in shock and even the effect of the sleeping pills was completely lost.

"Quick! Let Lütjens and his men retreat! Also tell Goering to send a plane to Brest for reinforcements immediately!"

He could not help but be anxious, as the German Navy was now left with only this much. Moscow had just suffered a crushing defeat, and if there was another disastrous defeat at sea... Hitler had never thought of being the one on the receiving end of something like being on the left and right!

"Um, Führer, you don't have to be too anxious." Looking at the mustache in front of him who was already showing signs of hysteria, Baumann sighed secretly in his heart and advised: "Judging from the previous situation of Lütjens and his men, they are well prepared. Now they are not far from the port of Brest, and it is completely in time to retreat. As for the air force... the Imperial Marshal has already dispatched the JG-26 Wing (in the Low Countries) and the JG-7 Wing (in southern Norway) this afternoon, and urgently transferred them to the French coast to reinforce the JG2 Wing. Now that so much time has passed, they should have been deployed in place, right?"

"Is that so? That's fine..." Originally, he was just thinking about something because of an emergency. The mentality of a generation of heroes is not that fragile. After hearing Bormann's persuasion, the mustache man immediately came to his senses. However, after rolling his eyes, Hitler, who had just regained his composure, raised his head and looked at his secretary. He still said with some concern: "Bowmann, you should immediately tell Raeder and Goering that the situation of the Imperial Army is already very serious. The Navy and Air Force must not let the situation get worse..."

"Well...Führer, do you have anything else to say?" Hearing that his own Führer was hesitant to speak, Baumann thought for a moment and finally asked.

"The prerequisite for the stability of the empire's western front is the Battle of the Atlantic, and the Battle of the Atlantic depends on the naval fleet... You should send a separate telegram to Lütjens later, telling him that the safety of the entire German western front now depends on him..."

The man with the mustache sat down on the camp bed, and his words were a little bleak, with a hint of grasping at straws.

........................

"Order, all aircraft carriers, prepare the flight decks immediately! The entire fleet is heading northeast by east, target Brest!"

"A call came in from the Brest Fortress. Eight fighter squadrons of reinforcement aircraft have arrived at the fortress airport. They will do their best to cover our return flight."

"Well, call the Brest Fortress and ask them to send a batch of reinforcement aircraft first. Right now the flight decks of our three aircraft carriers are full of landing aircraft, and we won't be able to launch anti-aircraft fighters for a while."