Chapter 734 Atlantic Strangulation War (43)

Just when the battle was getting stalemate, the radar reported that there was another attack group approaching in the distance, less than 50 kilometers away, with about 70-80 aircraft. Major General Koch, who was in charge of the command, quickly adjusted the allocation of fighter forces and mobilized another 24 aircraft to rush up to intercept first. At the same time, he warned the pilots of the first interception in an anxious tone through the radio to quickly eliminate the opponent and help their comrades.

Faced with the urgent enemy situation, Hartmann became more and more courageous, and finally fought back in close combat. If Marseille's high-altitude deflection angle firing was a unique attack trick of the German Air Force, Hartmann's close combat was also unique. When he first served in the Navy, he often flew Fw-190 and fought hand-to-hand with British Lancaster and American B-17 bombers that attacked the Azores. Although he had a brilliant performance of shooting down 4 heavy bombers, he was shot down by enemy planes twice because of being too aggressive. Fortunately, the Azores S-boat troops were powerful enough to pull him back from the sea every time. Under the persuasion of many people, he gradually changed this style of play and switched to long-range precision sniping.

But now the situation was urgent, he had no time to think more, and quickly stimulated his potential, and returned to his old ways. His vehicle was seen flying up and down, and he shuttled freely among the enemy troops. Almost every round of firing could harvest a bunch of lives. Whenever the enemy and our planes crossed each other at close range, he usually used the 20mm MG151 machine gun to drill holes in the opposite cockpit. Although the P40s were very strong, the Bf-21 thin-shelled bullets were not something their aluminum plates could withstand. The pilots' bodies were often hit with several blood holes as big as bowls, and there was no chance of rescue.

The German army finally lost 9 planes to kill all 62 enemy planes in front of them, and the exchange ratio reached an astonishing 7:1. Except for the Zeppelin that was hit by a near miss, the rest of the warships were unscathed. Then Hartmann roared and led his troops to rush towards the second wave of Canadian aircraft, ready to support his comrades who were fighting hard there. There were 74 Canadian planes in total in this attack. The Germans only sent 24 to intercept at the beginning, but they could not stop them at all. Later, 12 more planes were added. It was not until Hartmann arrived with more than 10 planes that the forces of both sides began to balance.

Strangely, the Canadians fought to the death and bravely advanced. After a fierce battle, the Germans finally wiped out their opponents, but they also paid the price of losing 14 planes. The exchange ratio was only slightly more than 5:1. The heavy cruiser Suffren, which was covering the aircraft carrier Skyhawk, was hit by a bomb and a turret was blown up. The other warships were hit by near misses. Just when the two sides were deciding the outcome, the cruisers observing from the outside reported that the third and fourth waves of enemy planes were coming, and the German anti-aircraft fighters had to force themselves to continue fighting. …

Although the German army won a big victory every time, the whole battle situation made Ozawa frown gradually. In this round of attack, the pilots of the United States and Canada fought desperately, and their fighting spirit was high and brave, showing a rare bloodiness. The German army lost more than 40 planes. Although Hartmann, the top ace who shot down 7 planes in a row, emerged, the overall exchange ratio dropped from 7:1 to 5:1. Due to the long fighting time, many planes even used up all their ammunition.

In this situation, Ozawa always felt that there was a conspiracy. The pilots who landed were also exhausted. Several of them didn't even have the strength to climb out of the cockpit. They were helped down by the ground staff. In December, the North Atlantic was originally freezing cold, but many pilots were sweating profusely, with white hot steam on their heads. They grabbed the milk, chocolate and sandwiches handed over by the ground staff and devoured them.

"Have you noticed anything wrong?"

"You mean, the enemy is using a rotation war to consume us?" Marshal listened to the losses reported by the aviation staff, looked at the exhausted fighter pilots on the deck, and asked worriedly, "Does the enemy have other conspiracies?"

Ozawa nodded, "During these raids, the enemy could have fought together, but they were divided into several waves advancing from different directions. The entire formation fought to the end, and the enemy could not break through our defense circle at all. They came to die in vain, but they still did it, which is very different from their previous performance..."

"This is a bad sign. Either the enemy is desperate or there are other plans that we don't know about." Crank pondered, "We have to be careful today and let the rotation pilots go. We must maintain a long-lasting and vigorous combat effectiveness..."

"Yes, I just want to consume the Germans..." Admiral Jin gritted his teeth in the Joint Chiefs of Staff "I know the Germans can fight, and our pilots are no match for them, but how many people and planes can they have? At most, I will prepare 5 for 1..."

Arnold said with a sad face: "Canadian pilots lost more than 100 people today, which is almost enough. Now you are fighting with the lives of the Army Aviation boys."

"Why are you crying? Isn't the Navy Aviation also losing money?" Admiral Jin was furious, "Now you are soft-hearted, and wait for the Germans to retreat unscathed and replenish their strength before attacking us again? I am the only one in the Caribbean who thinks that the planes are not enough. If I let the Germans run away again this time, the loss will be greater next time."

"But the loss is too great, and the exchange ratio is..."

"That's because there are a bunch of pigs commanding the front line!" Admiral Jin was furious, "Who told you to kill in several waves? Why did I emphasize attacking together and overwhelming the opponent with the advantage of numbers? It was a good plan, but the execution was all wrong in the end. I don't know what it means..."

Marshall also cast a surprised look, and Arnold was speechless. The expression on his face seemed to say: The quality of pilots is like this. It is really difficult for them to fly in a large formation without falling behind.

"I heard that the German Air Force and the Navy have a total of 20,000 aircraft and corresponding standing pilots. I will fight them all even if I lose 100,000, right?" Admiral Jin said shockingly, "If the Army Aviation is willing to pay 60,000, the remaining 40,000 will be paid by the Navy!"

"I..." Arnold was choked and speechless.

The fierce air defense battle lasted from 8 am to 1 pm. When the sixth and seventh waves of US heavy bombers appeared, the German air defense fighters were too lazy to rush up to fight. Anyway, these high-altitude horizontal bombers could not bomb warships. If they or escort fighters dared to come down to fight, they would not mind teaching them a lesson.

All the senior officers of the fleet who witnessed the scene broke out in a cold sweat: If Ozawa had not insisted on calling a large number of aircraft and pilots through cross-platform tactics, the carrier-based fighters would have basically been lost here even if the exchange ratio was higher. Without fighters, the aircraft carrier formation could only leave in disgrace.

"The reconnaissance aircraft has the latest intelligence. The enemy aircraft carrier formation was found 650 kilometers southeast... There are about 6-7 aircraft carriers..." As soon as the news came out, the Zeppelin command tower suddenly became quiet, and the atmosphere seemed to solidify.

"The enemy's backhand turned out to be here..." Ozawa stared at the sea chart for a few times and muttered to himself, "They used a large number of low-level pilots to fight with us. Not only are they preparing to consume our fighters, but they are also greatly consuming the pilots' physical strength and fighting spirit, creating conditions for the final blow of this fleet."

"What should we do now?" Everyone was very anxious.

"Have the land-based aircraft on Newfoundland arrived?"

"Some have arrived..."

"That's easy." Ozawa smiled, "This is one of our major advantages. The enemy doesn't know that we have cross-platform tactics to provide supplements, and they don't know that the land-based aircraft have arrived. They are too happy too early. Let the land-based fighters cooperate with some carrier-based fighters to take on the important task of protecting the fleet's air defense, and the remaining carrier-based aircraft will all be dispatched to attack the enemy's aircraft carrier formation..."

After his analysis, Marshal's somewhat nervous mood calmed down immediately, staring at the sea chart and said: "In this case, the commerce seizure fleet can also be used."

"Indeed, order... The commerce seizure fleet to quickly complete the aircraft on this ship Replenish, and move forward to the southwest in secret, preparing to attack this fleet tomorrow - they have hidden forces, and so do we! "

In a hurry, Ozawa showed the swiftness of cutting the Gordian knot, and issued orders one after another like water:

First, the attack aircraft currently cooperating with the army's attack gave up the attack, returned to the Newfoundland land-based base to replenish fuel and ammunition, and then formed a sea attack wave with the joint attack aircraft;

Second, the land-based fighters on Newfoundland Island replenished complete ammunition and fuel, and prepared to provide an air defense umbrella for the fleet:

Third, after the air defense fighters arrived, the existing carrier-based fighters landed and quickly replenished fuel and ammunition - pay attention, replace pilots, and maintain physical strength!

Fourth, the ground staff released all available reserve and spare fighters, ready to provide the last round of replenishment.

After this dispatch, the aircraft carrier formation can mobilize a total of 247 sea attack forces on land and sea, and 48 air defense fighters can be left over the fleet. Under Crank's persuasion, Ozawa withdrew 24 fighters from the attack group, increasing the number of air defense fighters to 72 to deal with emergencies, including the latest 12 Do-412 fighters.

The ground crew on the ship and Newfoundland immediately started working at full capacity, especially the ground crew in Newfoundland. They are also responsible for unloading aerial bombs from transport planes and providing them to carrier-based fighters.

"Gentlemen, it is 1:30 p.m. now. According to the distance, the enemy is estimated to take 2 hours to hit us. We have enough time to dispatch and prepare. It is completely in time to release the attack group to fight. The air defense fighters just need to find a way to beat the enemy down." Ozawa used relaxed words to reassure everyone. At this time, Cunningham's attack group had taken off and was ready to form a team to set off...