At 9:45 on the morning of September 2, the last plane returning from the first wave of raids on Port Scarpaflor landed firmly on the deck of the "Lisa". Prince Heydrich was listening to the reports of Major Madoni and Major Maur. He was very satisfied with the huge results and zero casualties of the first raid. The aircrew on the deck was nervously refueling and equipping a war eagle. bomb.
"Very good! You have won the supreme honor for the Imperial Navy. I will ask your majesty to personally award you medals. You can go and rest first! You will take off again at 11 o'clock to launch the third wave of raids. I have to remind you. , This time the resistance of the British will increase a lot, and your combat difficulty will also increase!"
"Yes! Thank you, Your Royal Highness!" Major Madoni and Major Maur turned and left, and all the pilots will hurry up to eat and rest for more than an hour.
"British, see how long you can last!" Heydrich spits out these words contemptuously. As long as the main British fleet does not leave the port to pursue it for a moment, his aircraft will continue to attack and let the British navy drain the last drop of blood.
"His Royal Highness, the No. 3 reconnaissance plane reported that a British cruiser was found 30 nautical miles northwest of the fleet. It is estimated to be the remaining warship of the British fleet that the second wave of assault aircraft encountered and attacked!" The adjutant took it from the telegraph room. A report came out.
"Don't worry, let the submarine clean it up!" Heydrich glanced at the report. The fleet has kept radio silent. The only aircraft far away from the fleet can use the transmitter to send reports back to the mothership, and he now only uses semaphores. Contact surrounding ships. If the British did not continue to approach, they might be lucky enough to escape the catastrophe.
The British battleship discovered by the No. 3 reconnaissance plane was the cruiser "Aurora" covered with bullet holes.
Corporal Nini leaned on his secondary gun, closed his eyes, and meditated. The battle just now had reimbursed his three younger brothers. The entire battleship lost 36 people and 49 people were injured, and most of them were on deck. Soldiers on the gun position, this warship has almost lost half of its combat effectiveness.
At this time they had already learned about the situation in their home port Scarpaflor, were the losses they suffered far exceeded their imagination. The battleships of 1/4 of the number and 1/5 tonnage of the main fleet have temporarily or permanently lost their combat effectiveness. The commander of the fleet sent a telegram to the Aurora, asking it to follow the direction of the German planes, and try to find out where the planes took off.
Although the captain assured everyone that after the battle, everyone on the ship would apply for medals, like most sailors, Nini didn't want to get any medals at all. He just wanted to go home as soon as possible and end this terrible war as soon as possible. In the previous battle, the British navy, which he was proud of, was beaten without any strength to fight back. If it weren't for the hull of the Aurora, it would be a lap smaller than the sinking Parrot and Oxford. If Did not dodge the torpedo and bomb in time, now he and the ship should be lying quietly on the seabed several hundred meters deep.
"God, forgive our sinful souls!" Nini knelt on the deck and prayed.
God really favored Nini, and also favored this British warship.
At a distance of 8 nautical miles from them, Dunnitz's U-039 submarine just surfaced for air. Half an hour ago, their transmitter had a slight malfunction, which also caused them to miss the report sent by the No. 3 reconnaissance plane just now.
As far as the sea line of sight is concerned, the submarine's low tower can't be compared with the watchtower with the warship's mast higher, so when the "Aurora" spotted U-039, the crew on the submarine was breathing comfortably. The fresh air above the water.
The captain of the "Aurora" issued an order to advance toward the German submarine at full speed, and all of the ship's artillery was ready to fire.
Nini took his only little brother and stood pitifully in his gun position. Although it was not a German plane this time, Nini knew very well that German submarines were not easy to mess with. As long as they got into the water, their cruiser would have nothing to do with them.
Finally, the crew of U-039 discovered the smoke from the chimney of the "Aurora", the submarine immediately issued a whining dive warning and began to dive quickly, before the last crew member got into the submarine and covered it. When the hatch was covered, the 4.5-inch cannon on the front deck of the Aurora had just fired; when the shell fell on the sea near the submarine, U-039 was completely submerged in the water.
"Go ahead at full speed! The whole ship pays close attention to the sea and avoids torpedoes!" The captain of the "Aurora" decided to rush through the submarine's attack range, and intuitively told him that there must be something not far behind the submarine.
Dunnitz's U-039 watched the "Goddess of Aurora" galloping away from a place not far above his head, and a minute later they launched a torpedo with a stern torpedo tube.
"Torpedo! There are torpedoes behind!" The sailors on the British warship shouted loudly. The "Aurora", which was on a route with a maximum speed of 26 knots, easily avoided the torpedo and then headed towards the southeast. Once again, seeing the torpedo pass by not far from the ship's side, Nini couldn't help but thank the Almighty God.
At 10:03 am on September 2nd, U-033, 4 nautical miles behind U-039, also found this "uninvited guest". It launched two torpedoes at a distance of 600 yards from the "Aurora". However, the highly concentrated British warship successfully evaded, and U-033 used a transmitter to report the situation to the flagship.
At 10:09, 5 "Swordfish" and 4 "Seahawk II" took off from the "Lisa". At this time, two destroyers cruising 5 nautical miles around the aircraft carrier also spotted the "Aurora".
At 10:10, the "Aurora" sent a telegram to the British Grand Fleet Command: A German naval destroyer was found 90 nautical miles southeast of Scarpaflor, and several German aircraft were on a strange German ship in the distance. take off.
At 10:14, the corporal of the Navy and 343 British naval officers and soldiers watched 7 torpedoes cross and gallop towards the "Aurora". With the joint efforts of German torpedo machines and destroyers, this stubborn British ship The naval cruiser finally completed its mission and slowly sank into the sea.
At 10:18, the German naval destroyer "" passed by and dropped four rubber rafts. 76 British naval officers and soldiers, including Nini, survived. They were rescued by a passing British cruiser 6 hours later.
At 10:30, the two "ostrich I" bombers hovering over Scarpaflo sent back reports that because most of the channel was blocked, the British warships were slow to leave the port. There are currently 10 dreadnoughts, 3 armored cruisers, and 4 A light cruiser and 7 destroyers have exited Scarpaflor through the main channel. The other 10 Dreadnought-class battleships, 3 armored cruisers, 5 light cruisers, and 37 destroyers that are still able to sail are passing through the main channel in turn. It is estimated that it will take 3 hours to fully depart the port.
In fact, the two Ostrich I participating in the second wave of airstrikes did not load bombs. The bomb bays were converted into additional fuel tanks. The purpose was to stay in the sky over Scarpaflo after the airstrikes to observe the British warships. Trends, both "ostrich I" are equipped with transmitters to ensure that the most important information can be fed back to the Heydrich fleet.
At 10:45, all pilots participating in the third wave of airstrikes were notified that even if they collided with the ship, they must block the channel of Scarpaflo Port to cut off the British fleet.
At exactly 11 o'clock, under the gaze of Heydrich and everyone, the third wave of 66 planes began to take off from the "Lisa" and "Super Duck Mother". The two "ostrich I" that participated in the first wave of airstrikes failed and did not participate in the airstrike.
At 11:30, the third wave of 66 aircraft took off and flew to Scarpaflo in formation, including 20 "Seahawk II" fighter-bombers, 22 "ostrich I" bombers, and 24 "Swordfish" torpedoes. machine.
At 12:47, the third wave of airstrike planes arrived in the sky over Port Scarpaflor. At this time, the 18 Dreadnought-class battleships, 4 armored cruisers, 4 light cruisers, and 10 destroyers of the British Grand Fleet had sailed out of the harbor, and the remaining warships were slowly sailing out of the channel. The commander of the British Grand Fleet stood on his new flagship "George V" battleship and commanded the fleet outside the port to begin to assemble. After receiving the report from the "Aurora" light cruiser, although he did not know why the German ships could take off and land so many planes, he was suffocated and wanted to win back the honor that the British Imperial Navy had lost.
At 12:49, Major Madoni once again raised his right arm and made two laps in the air: Attack as planned!
Whether it is a fighter-bomber, bomber, or torpedo, the primary target of all aircraft involved in airstrikes is the British warship that is traveling in the channel. The first 20 "Sea Eagle II" fighter-bombers lined up and flew along the main channel. The unlucky old-fashioned armored cruiser "Warrior" actually happened to pass by the armored cruiser "Defense" that sank in the first airstrike, and flew over the "Seahawk II" above the "Warrior" and dropped bombs in 1 minute. All the 20 bombs in it were thrown at it. As a result, after directly hitting 7 100KG aerial bombs, the superstructure of the "Warrior" has collapsed, all the main guns have been distorted into useless scrap iron, and the entire warship is slowly burning. Slowly sinking, this 30-meter-wide main channel has been almost completely blocked, and only small tugboats can barely pass.
On the other side-channel, about 20 meters wide, several destroyers were slowly passing by. Most of that channel was sunk by the battlecruiser "Invincible" and the USS "Southampton" in the second wave of attack. The cruiser is blocked, and now it can only barely pass the light cruiser and destroyer. At this time, the British light cruiser "Reading" with a displacement of 6,500 tons and the destroyer "Taunton" with a displacement of 3,500 tons were slowly passing through that channel. However, after the first two airstrikes, the British have discovered that the machine guns on destroyers and some light cruisers can pose a threat to low-flying and bomb-dropping aircraft. Therefore, fully mobilized destroyers and light cruisers have become the only air defense weapons of the British Navy.
At 12:53, the No.011 and No. 012 "Swordfish" torpedo aircraft threw two torpedoes into the secondary channel at an ultra-low altitude. Just as they began to climb and turn, the machine gun on the bridge of the destroyer Taunton ejected one. The long string of white lights hit the engine of No. 011, and the German navy pilot Patret was horrified to find that his "swordfish" engine made a few low "coughs", and then a black burst came out of the engine. Smoke, the propeller also quickly stopped.
"Damn it!" Patret patted the hood of the plane hard, but the hot hatch was so hot that he yelled and retracted his hand.
"Ram! My plane is not working! Come and cover me, I will find a place to land!" He shouted while working hard to operate his No. 011 and start gliding. On the other side of the channel, there was a pier several hundred meters long. No one.
"Ram, I'm going by! Come down to pick me up in a while!" Patret saw the driver of No. 012, Ram, waved his hand vigorously, and then concentrated his attention on making his No. 011 descend towards the pier.
Soon, the torpedo aircraft No. 011 began to jump on the uneven pier. Due to the loss of power, No. 011 was very unstable. It suddenly glided over the left-wing of the fuselage and rubbed the ground. The sawdust splashed from the wings and fuselage After going out, Patret closed his eyes and drew tightly into the cabin.
Finally, the plane stopped, Patret opened his eyes and looked out. I don't know, he was shocked at first sight-a dozen British soldiers were about 20 meters away from the pier between the two houses. The cat is in a gap of 2 meters wide. After staring at each other blankly for a few seconds, the British rushed out while shooting. Fortunately, the nose of the 011 planes was facing the British, and the engine blocked the bullets shot by the British for Patret. He quickly pulled out his Ruger pistol and shot the British continuously. Two British soldiers fell to the ground on the spot. The British immediately fell down due to a natural reaction. They fell on the ground and continued to shoot at Patret. The bullet was so heavy that he did not dare to lift his head from the cabin, and the machine gun in the nose was fixed in direction. Trett couldn't use it to fight back. Several British soldiers began to bow towards the 011 plane. At this critical moment, the No. 012 torpedo plane finally flew over the pier, and it accurately fired a shuttle projectile there from a height of 3 meters above the ground. On a group of British soldiers, it began to slide more than ten meters in front of No. 011, and stopped at a distance of nearly 100 meters from Patrette after ten seconds.
"Patret! Come up quickly!" Ram shouted loudly from the cockpit, pulling out his pistol to cover him.
Patret raised his head and glanced at the British soldier in front of him. There were six bodies lying on the ground. The other four British soldiers were dragging the other two wounded soldiers back, and the other two were holding guns to cover the wounded soldiers' retreat. He quickly fired the remaining three rounds of bullets at the British soldier with a pistol, brought down the two British soldiers who were holding their guns to cover, then jumped out of the cabin and ran towards Ram at the fastest speed.
After 10 seconds, Patret was almost 10 meters away from Ram's 012 torpedoes. At this time, the British soldiers who had dragged the wounded back started shooting at him with rifles. The moment he climbed onto the plane, Mr. Patrette was unfortunately shot in the thigh.
"Ram, hurry up!" He couldn't take care of that much anymore, as long as it didn't fall into the hands of the British. Since the "Swordfish" has only one cockpit, Patret only has to put his feet into the cockpit, and most of his body sits outside the cabin.
Ram's torpedo aircraft No. 012 began to turn, glide and quickly re-flew into the sky.
"Ram, we can't leave the plane to the British and let the bombers blow it up!" Patrette's wish is good, but when they played "Run Fast" with the British, other planes had already used it. All the bombs were thrown out, and in the end, they used a machine gun to shoot at No.011 twice before leaving helplessly.
Fortunately, after No. 011 was shot down by the destroyer Taunton, the British destroyer was also hit by a torpedo dropped by No. 011. The front part of the entire battleship was blown up like a grinning shark. It had all sunk within half a minute, and another light cruiser "Reading" in the secondary channel was attacked by two torpedoes. At this time, it was already sitting quietly at the bottom of the water, leaving only a little mast.
At 12:58, the third wave of airstrike aircraft sent back a report, and the task of blocking the Scarpaflor channel has been completed!
Compared with the 011 "Swordfish" torpedo and the lucky Patret, the other "Seahawk II" and its pilot Hank are much more unfortunate. The No. 045 "Seahawk II" is in the fire bay. One of the destroyers in the United States was also hit by the opponent's machine gun. Hank was shot in the head and died on the spot. After flying for a certain distance, No. 045 suddenly plunged into the harbor. No. 045 became the German navy in an air attack. Hank also became the only pilot who died a heroic martyrdom in the airstrike. After the battle, the German emperor posthumously awarded him a first-class Iron Cross.
Outside the port of Scarpaflor, Admiral Jellied is directing the fleet that has left the port to disperse to avoid the attack of the aircraft. The report of the channel blockage made him greatly surprised and panic. There are still 2 dreadnoughts, 3 armored cruisers, 3 light cruisers, and 27 destroyers in the port in the next week. They can only stay in the port honestly. If the German ships with take-off and landing aircraft are not eliminated as soon as possible, these valuable assets of the British navy will be swallowed up by the German air demons little by little. The arrow is on the string and has to be sent.
At 1:10, the third and final wave of air strikes on the British Port Scarpaflo ended. Smoke was everywhere in the harbor, and one armored cruiser, one light cruiser, and two destroyers that came out to block the channel were sunk, and another armored cruiser in the harbor was injured. After the channel was blocked, some torpedo planes also launched a small-scale attack on the fleet assembled outside the port. They launched two torpedoes on the "George V", one was evaded by it, and the other was unexpectedly taken by a British ship. The destroyer "sacrificed itself to block its guns." In addition, an "ostrich I" bomber dropped countless pieces of paper over the British fleet, which read "British, your inability to keep Nelson's spirit in the sky from rest!"
At 1:15, the flagship of the British Grand Fleet "George V" sent a signal: the fleet set sail, heading 40 degrees south of due east, and all ships should pay attention to avoiding torpedo and bomb attacks by German aircraft. The British Navy is invincible! The British Imperial Navy will win!