One Thousand Two Hundred and Fourteen Iron Heart

"Boom! Boom!" On the British battleship Queen Elizabeth, countless anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns fired desperately at the sky. Rolling here and there were steaming casings that had been ejected from the bay.

"Fire! Stop those German planes from approaching the fleet!" Looking at the American fighter jets in the sky, which are superior in numbers but have not won at all, all the anti-aircraft artillery commanders were extremely anxious. Once the air supremacy is lost, the fleet here may be sieved by German carrier-based aircraft.

Both the British Navy and the US Navy are very clear about the battle in the Pacific Ocean. They know that even with powerful battleships, after losing the protection of the aircraft carrier, these dinosaur-like behemoths will still be torn to pieces by carrier-based aircraft as small as mosquitoes. The Japanese Navy is like this, so the Allied Fleet is of course no exception.

The US Navy's carrier-based aircraft was entangled by the German naval aviation on the periphery, and did not exert much air defense energy. The rest seemed to rely on the fleet's own air defense firepower to complete. So all the soldiers on the anti-aircraft artillery positions were full of energy, and used the weapons in their hands to fire at the German carrier-based aircraft recklessly.

A Stuka dive bomber dragged thick black smoke and passed the funnel of the battleship Ramirez, and then it staggered towards the distant sea surface, where it exploded and formed a huge water column. There was no time to cheer, and the anti-aircraft gunners of the British Royal Navy began to shoot at the next target. Before the German planes in the sky disappeared, no one could guarantee that they were absolutely safe.

A cruiser in the distance suddenly exploded. It must have been hit by a torpedo launched by the German Navy. The old-fashioned cruiser was turning its bow. It seemed that it was trying to avoid the opponent's attack, but it failed in the end. Of course, no one cares about the life and death of a cruiser now. That is obviously the job of the nearby destroyers. Everyone still regards air defense as their first task. After all, the German planes circling overhead are no joke.

Because the battle had just begun, the Royal Navy's fleet formation was still very complete, and the Allied carrier-based aircraft, which were inferior in number, had not been exhausted, so the first wave of German air strikes did not achieve the desired results. In the end, only 34 planes returned, which was definitely a huge loss for the German naval aviation.

Lütjens's face changed when he got the loss report. He tremblingly pinched the loss list with his hands, and almost wanted to give an order to make the fleet turn around and leave this sea area: "It seems that the Americans have mobilized many The few elite naval aviation forces...their air defense network is at least twice as tight as expected, and this naval battle is not easy to win..."

"The order of the head of state is to eliminate the Allied sea power as much as possible. If our 7 aircraft carriers can't beat the enemy's 3 ships, then when the United States completes its suppression of Japan on the Pacific battlefield, the number of aircraft carriers it will deploy will not exceed 7 ships is as simple as that." Raeder is still clearer about the strategy of the head of state.

He knew that Akado was still afraid of the proud production capacity of the United States, so he had to give the Americans a headache first under the situation of superior military strength.

Otherwise, the production speed of the Essex-class aircraft carrier is like dumpling into the ocean, and the Third Reich will soon lose control of the entire Atlantic Ocean. Even if the United States does not have the guts to land and take back Britain in the end, then for the Third Reich, losing the Atlantic Ocean would be a huge loss, wouldn't it?

Lütjens heard Raeder's words and thought for a few seconds with his hands behind his back. He knows that it is not easy to replenish the naval aviation force, but he still has reserves. Even if the German naval aviation loses half of its strength now, the navy can do it if it is fully replenished and the quality is guaranteed. So he gritted his teeth and made a firm decision to continue fighting: "Order! Take off the third wave of attack aircraft! I want to see if the American carrier-based aircraft is impregnable! Can it be true?" Invulnerable!"

He gave the order to continue the attack, so on the deck of the aircraft carrier of the German Navy fleet, the third wave of attack aircraft units that had been preparing to continue for a long time began to start their own engines and let the propellers rotate against the wind. Following the commands one after another, these Stuka bombers and more escorting FW-190 fighter jets rushed to the sky one after another. Above the aircraft carrier, they assembled into a neat attack formation and headed into the distance. fly away.

Watching these planes take off again, Lütjens nervously took out his pocket watch and checked the time on it—1 o'clock in the afternoon. The results of the second wave of attack aircraft have not yet been reported. What Lütjens is most afraid of now is to let the British delay the decisive battle of the naval battle until the night when the German navy is weakest.

"Marshal Raeder! Let the battleship force and the heavy cruiser force prepare for battle... If the fleet cannot win during the day, then the enemy will definitely come over at night and try to use artillery to decide the outcome." Lütjens Putting the pocket watch back into his pocket, he suggested to Admiral Raeder beside him.

Raeder nodded, of course he knew what the other party was insisting on at this time. The first is because if the Allied fleet retreats to the north, the slower transport fleet will be exposed to the attack of the German navy; the second is because the opponent is still holding the mentality of wanting to reverse the situation of the war and is preparing to bite the German navy. .

At the same time, on the bridge of the Ark Royal aircraft carrier, Dudley Pound, with his hands behind his back, looked through the porthole at the wreckage of the cruiser that had begun to sink, and issued a combat order to approach the German fleet: "Turn! Direction is due east, towards the German fleet!"

Exactly as Lütjens guessed, the old general of the British Royal Navy was planning to defeat the German High Seas Fleet at this moment. He even thought a little more ideally, that is-use the German fleet to consume the American fleet, and then night comes, and the battleships of the Royal Navy will destroy the German fleet.

In this way, Britain can end the war more decently, and even seek the possibility of retaking the mainland when the Atlantic returns to British control. Dudley Pound didn't care about a little loss, because compared with the upstart Germany, the British Royal Navy still has battleships, and it can afford to lose!

In addition, there is a hidden arrow that is shooting behind the German High Seas Fleet. Dudley Pound was secretly excited about his plan: he quietly ordered the Royal Navy's HMS Villainous battleship on the west side of Iceland, as well as the HMS Nelson, to move from its original position to the southeast, just in time for the battleship at nightfall. Rush to the battlefield and encircle the German fleet.

Counting these two battleships, the four battleships of the British Navy will have a numerical advantage... As long as half of the German fleet is sunk, the command of the sea in the Atlantic will be in the hands of the Royal Navy again.

"Signal to the aircraft carrier USS Franklin! Let them take off all fighter jets that can fight, and ensure the safety of the fleet above the fleet before nightfall!" Dudley Pound watched the bow of the sunken cruiser finally sink On the surface of the sea, another order was added: "The carrier-based aircraft of the Ark Royal aircraft carrier should also start to take off! It is best to make the Germans hesitate, then we will be sure of victory!"

As Dudley Pound had predicted, just a few minutes earlier, Lütjens had indeed wavered. He hesitated whether to take off more carrier-based aircraft, and fight the opponent here to fight consumption. But Dudley Pound missed one person... The determination of the German head of state for this naval battle! No one is more aware of the U.S. Navy’s construction speed advantage than Acado. If he misses this decisive battle, when they meet again, the number of aircraft carriers of the Americans may be equal to that of the Germans.

This is obviously not the situation that Akado wants to see, so he decided to eat the British Royal Navy before the Americans can mobilize more forces-as for the USS Franklin aircraft carrier, it was just an accidental free gift That's all.

"Take off the fourth wave of attack aircraft!" Lütjens, who owned seven aircraft carriers back and forth, finally passed the addiction of rich and powerful local tyrants. When he made up his mind and planned to wipe out the Allied Atlantic Fleet, the German aircraft carrier fleet finally showed its own advantages—before the Allied fleet’s aircraft carrier took off for the third wave of fighter jets to intercept the German aircraft, Germany had already taken off. The fourth wave of attack aircraft rushed towards the Allied Fleet.

At this time, the second wave of attack aircraft appeared over the Allied fleet, and the loss of U.S. Navy fighter pilots immediately rose to a new level: At the beginning, the German army did not arrange so many fighter escorts; There were as many as 28 German fighter jets escorted by the attack fleet, and in an instant, there were only 16 American fighter jets left.

Watching the friendly fighter jets being shot down one after another in the sky, the Allied fleet began to worry about whether they could survive until nightfall. After all, this was a fate-determining naval battle, and Dudley Pound finally clenched his fists and gave an order to let the carrier-based aircraft on the Ark Royal aircraft carrier take off ahead of schedule.

"In a short period of time, they have made up their minds to fight to the end... The Germans don't need to fight to the death at all. Does the commander of the other side have a heart as strong as Nelson's iron?" Unknowingly, Dudley Pound, whose forehead was covered with sweat, muttered softly.