The decisive battle against the Third Reich

The British fleet was approaching the fleet in darkness, including both fighter jets and bombers, but mainly bombers. After all, fighter jets were mainly used for air combat and escorting bombers, and did not have much destructive power on warships.

There are at least fifty aircraft in this fleet... But Qin Chuan knows that this is just the first wave. The aircraft are to take off one by one on the runway and then assemble in the air, in order not to waste some aircraft waiting in the air for too long. There is a lot of fuel. Land-based takeoffs usually take place in a batch of fifty, while aircraft carrier takeoffs depend on the situation. For example, when the United States and Japan dispatched thirty aircraft in a batch on the Pacific battlefield, this was done when the aircraft carriers were relatively advanced and the dispatching was reasonable. This can only be achieved under certain circumstances. At this time, the British aircraft carrier "Eagle" can only carry 21 carrier-based aircraft.

"Woo..." The piercing air defense siren sounded soon, but what was different from usual was that the German warship that should have opened fire immediately seemed very quiet at this time.

This shows that the plans and exercises set before have worked.

Because the situation was as analyzed by Qin Chuan before, the British fleet approached the fleet from a high altitude... This height was outside the range of the 130MM secondary gun, and it was basically impossible to hit the target. Moreover, the "proximity fuse shells" used by the German Navy were relatively expensive. High, there is no need to waste shells.

The German Navy took advantage of this time to make adjustments. The First Fleet and the Second Fleet advanced side by side about two kilometers apart.

Going side by side is a must.

"Side by side" is to make better use of firepower. The warship faces the friendly forces with its side, which means that the artillery fire at the bow and stern can work at the same time.

"Forward" is for evasive action in an emergency...Standing still will be a good target for enemy fighters.

Then, the British aircraft group took advantage of the opportunity to chase the fleet and lowered their altitude to swoop down towards the fleet.

"Gentlemen!" Reidel said to Qin Chuan and others, "I think it's time for you to go back to the cabin!"

This should be said mainly to Darlan. Redel let him board the ship mainly to show off to him. If Darlan has three advantages and two shortcomings, Redel's efforts will be in vain.

"No!" Darlan replied: "Marshal, these are my warships. I hope to see what kind of combat effectiveness they will have!"

Redel was stunned for a moment, then nodded, and then raised his head to the two guards. The two guards understood and stood next to Darlan, one on the left and one on the right... This was certainly not because he was worried about Darlan escaping. There were people all around the warship. It's a vast sea, and there's no place to escape even if you want to.

Redel was worried that Darlan would be injured or take the opportunity to commit suicide, but these worries were obviously unnecessary, because at this time Darlan wanted to know the performance of the French warships more than anyone else.

This is a very contradictory mentality. He does not hope that the German army can win, but he also hopes that the warship can win, and at the same time he hopes that the warship will be bombed and sunk... In short, it is a mixed feeling.

Colonel Angus, who directed the attack of this group of British aircraft, ordered into the microphone: "Group A, it's time for you to perform. Pay attention to using the blind spots of artillery fire!"

"Roger that, Colonel!"

Group A is a light bomber, mainly composed of "Mosquito" bombers and "Blenheim" bombers... Under normal circumstances, these two bombers will not be organized together to perform missions. The reason is that the "Mosquito" bomber Much faster than the "Blenheim" type.

It can be seen from this that the British sent out everything they could bring to the battlefield for this attack.

The characteristic of light bombers is that they are more flexible and can quickly lower their altitude to attack the target. So with a roar of motors, twenty light bombers fell from the sky.

"Marshal!" the staff reported: "The enemy plane has entered the range of artillery fire!"

"Wait a minute!" said Redl.

Redl's choice was of course correct. Opening fire just after entering the firing range would leave no room for the artillery fire to aim.

But Redel only waited a few seconds... This was because the enemy plane was very fast, and Redel's request was reached within a few seconds.

So with Redel's order: "Fire!"

The thundering sound of cannons soon rang out.

What fired at this time was the 130MM caliber secondary gun. This caliber gun was widely equipped on French warships... It was a secondary gun on battleships, and it was used as the main gun on light cruisers and destroyers. Just because of this gun Problems such as dead spots and small caliber anti-aircraft guns with small caliber and slow firing rate have made the French fleet's air defense always a weakness.

but……

After adopting different tactics, this is obviously no longer its weakness, especially when the fleet also uses "proximity fuse shells".

Just hearing a burst of "boom", Qin Chuan and others could clearly feel the vibration of the ship's hull when the artillery was fired, and then rows of shells headed straight towards the enemy plane with steam lines... This is because The humidity in the air was very high just after the rain stopped. The high-temperature shells evaporated water vapor along the way and formed a vague trajectory.

Then, the shells exploded around the target fighter as if they had eyes.

This is a 130MM caliber artillery shell. When it explodes, a cloud of black mist immediately erupts. What cannot be seen with the naked eye is shrapnel flying around.

And light bombers are very fragile, especially the wooden "Mosquito", so three "Mosquitoes" were blown up on the spot and disintegrated in the air... The aircraft was divided into more than a dozen pieces, like a goddess scattering flowers. It seems like they are falling from the sky to the sea in pieces.

The "Blenheim" bomber may be better, but for fighters, it doesn't make much difference whether it breaks into more than a dozen pieces or two pieces. The difference is that some injured "Blenheim" bombers can still survive. Staying in the air for a while gives the pilot some precious time to bail out.

"What happened?" Colonel Angus asked: "Pay attention to the use of blind spots, is that clear? Pay attention to the use of blind spots!"

"But..." came the nervous reply from his subordinates on the phone: "We are indeed taking advantage of blind spots, but they don't seem to have any blind spots!"

Colonel Angus didn't believe this answer. Could it be that the Germans had already replaced them with new naval guns?

After thinking about it, Colonel Angus controlled the fighter plane to fly upside down, which allowed him to clearly see the entire battlefield.

Then he discovered the secret... The German naval guns were not shooting at themselves, but at friendly forces.

What puzzled Colonel Angus even more was that no matter how the British light fighter plane maneuvered or changed its altitude, the anti-aircraft gun shells could always accurately explode near the fighter plane.

This is impossible in peacetime. The reason is that the fighter planes fly so fast that the gunners have no time to adjust the delay time of the shells. This is also one of the reasons why warships in this era have weak air defense capabilities.

But...the impossible is indeed happening before our eyes.