The Rise of the Third Reich

On January 15, 1941, at 9:35 in the morning, a shrill siren suddenly sounded on the battleship "Wars Expite".

"Report, a group of aircraft was spotted in the west-northwest direction, suspected to be an enemy formation..."

finally come!

Everyone in the command tower of the "Warspite" felt their hearts skip a beat. Although everyone is prepared to be bombed, and we also know that this is the price that must be paid. But when I think about the possibility of the battleships and aircraft carriers of the Mediterranean Fleet being sunk, I feel like I'm being cut by a knife.

"Okay!" Cunningham clapped his hands and stood up excitedly, "Order the Eagle to send out all the Spitfires and tell the boys to block the enemy's first wave of attacks no matter what!

In addition, send power to the Middle East Air Force Command and ask them to immediately dispatch fighter jets stationed in Crete for reinforcements! "

The current location of the main force of the British Mediterranean Fleet is only more than 400 kilometers away from Crete, completely within the combat radius of the P-39 "Flying Snake" fighter jet. In the "Judgment" plan formulated by Cunningham, the "Flying Snake" on Crete is definitely a winning trump card.

As long as the "Sea Spitfire" on the "Eagle" and the "Flying Snake" flying from Crete can protect the Mediterranean fleet from suffering fatal damage, then the Italian fleet will definitely be lured out. In this way, the carrier-based aircraft of Fleet B and the British fighter planes on Crete will have the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to the Italian aircraft carrier!

At 9:51, under the command of Cunningham, the main force of the huge Mediterranean fleet had set up a circular air defense array. Dozens of cruisers and destroyers were arranged in four circles, and eight battleships (two battleships and one battleship) were deployed. group) and 1 aircraft carrier (Eagle, Rodney, and Lorraine in a circle) tightly surrounding the center.

At the same time, all 28 Spitfires on the USS Eagle took off and then desperately pulled up to obtain a high-altitude position. After competing with the Fokker Zero for more than a year, British pilots also found some ways to fight against it. Just avoid fighting and use the method of pulling up and diving to attack.

Of course, such tactics can only be effective when used by fighters of the "Spitfire" level. And it has to be without BF-109 participating in the battle, otherwise as soon as the "Spitfire" is raised, the BF-109 waiting at high altitude will have the opportunity to make achievements.

However, although there was certainly no BF-109 at high altitude today, the collective dive of these "Sea Spitfires" still failed to bring down a Fokker Zero. This is because the main purpose of the first wave of dives of these "Sea Spitfires" is to break up the German Ju88 fleet that is preparing to penetrate from an altitude of 3,000 meters. These medium bombers carrying two 500kg armor-piercing bombs were not allowed to enter the dive position. The British Royal Navy, which suffered heavy losses in Scapa Flow, is now very afraid of this large twin-engine aircraft that can also dive.

Although its bomb delivery accuracy is not as good as the Ju87 and Fokker 99, the destructive power of two 500 kg armor-piercing bombs is no joke. Not to mention an aircraft carrier, even a battleship of Rodney's level would be paralyzed if it took a few hits.

Therefore, these "Sea Spitfires" did not care about causing trouble for the Fokker Zero, and could only choose to break up the Ju88 formation first. But as soon as their altitude dropped, they were immediately targeted by the Fokker Zero guarding the Ju88 at an altitude of 3,000 meters. A fierce air battle immediately started at medium and low altitudes, but most of the "Sea Spitfires" still used the tactic of diving and then pulling up to get rid of the Fokker Zero. Only three "Sea Spitfires" unfortunately became Fokkers. The ghost under the Zero cannon.

At the same time, the 48 Ju88s that were broken up circled around and reorganized into a formation, and quickly found the location of the aircraft carrier. Major Val T. Heisenberg, who had participated in the Scapa Flow air raid, was the commander-in-chief of the first assault wave. He had clearly seen the situation on the sea. There was only one aircraft carrier among the four circular air defense formations!

"There is only one aircraft carrier!" He said to Sergeant Rudolf Schmidt, the navigator and telegraph operator beside him, "Rudolf, how many carriers did you see?"

"Major, I only found one mothership." Hans Schmidt replied.

"Send a telegram." Major Val T. Heisenberg said, "Battleship 8, aircraft carrier 1 found." After Schmidt finished sending the telegram, Major Heisenberg began to issue orders through the airborne radio.

"Attention all squadrons, I am Major Heisenberg, commander of the first assault wave. The first attack target is the British aircraft carrier, and then the battleship. First, Ju88 launches a dive attack, and then S.M.79..."

After more than a year of actual combat, the level of German naval aviation's ship attacks has now been significantly improved. The organization and sequence of the attacks were more reasonable, and the bombs were dropped with greater precision. If the Scapa Flow bombing had been carried out by the current naval elite, the British losses would have been at least doubled.

After arranging the attack sequence through the airborne radio, Major Val T. Heisenberg was the first to brave the intensive anti-aircraft firepower and start the impact. Although the British anti-aircraft fire was fired desperately, it did not cause any interference to Major Heisenberg and his crew members. The bombs were dropped at a height of about 700 meters. The "Eagle" aircraft carrier desperately performed an S-shaped maneuver and dodged two 500-kilogram bombs, but not by much. One of the bombs was within a short distance of the "Eagle" The explosion occurred just a few meters away from the port side of the aircraft carrier, causing a near-miss. Fortunately, this is an armor-piercing projectile with a thickened shell and reduced charge (charge coefficient 15%). The power of the explosion under the waterline is not too great for an aircraft carrier converted from a battleship like the "Eagle". Big threat.

But this was just the beginning. Five minutes later, two Ju88s were shot down and another one was damaged. A 500-kilogram bomb dropped by a Ju88 bomber belonging to the 4th German HNA Bombing Regiment accurately hit the deck of the "Eagle" aircraft carrier, forming a penetration. It exploded in the hangar of the "Eagle" aircraft carrier. The huge explosion will All personnel and backup aircraft in the hangar were torn to pieces, and a raging fire broke out.

Just 3 minutes later, bombs dropped by two more Ju88s hit the "Eagle" again, opening two more large holes in the stern deck. One of the bombs penetrated directly into the boiler room of the "Eagle". There was a big explosion in the boiler room, causing the "Eagle" to lose most of its power.

Although the "Eagle" aircraft carrier is still floating tenaciously after eating three 500-kg armor-piercing bombs, it has lost its combat capability.

"Damn Ju88..." Cunningham in the command tower of the Warspite witnessed the entire process of the Ju88 launching a dive attack on the Eagle aircraft carrier.

Although in his plan, the "Eagle" aircraft carrier, which was already outdated, had little aircraft capacity, and was also abandoned, was crippled in the first wave of enemy attacks, which greatly surprised him. anticipation.

"Admiral, three large holes were blown out of the deck of the Eagle aircraft carrier, there was a fire in the hangar, and the boiler room was destroyed. It has lost its combat capability!"

The communications staff reported disheartening news. Cunningham took a deep breath and said: "Allow the Eagle to be abandoned if necessary. Also, let all the Sea Spitfires fight until they run out of fuel, and then the pilots parachute."

Losing the "Eagle" is certainly frustrating, but the greatest threat to the entire fleet is that the cover of carrier-based aircraft will soon be lost.

At this time, the attack by German and Italian fighter planes was not over yet. After severely damaging the "Eagle", the remaining Ju88s that had not dropped bombs did not continue to bomb the "Eagle", but began to attack the "Rodney" battleship near the "Eagle". The final mission to terminate the "Eagle" will be handed over to the Italian S.M.79 torpedo bombers. Ten minutes after the Ju88 stopped attacking, six S.M.79s fired torpedoes at the "Eagle" that was shrouded in fire and smoke, 2 of which One hit the underwater part of the port side of the "Eagle". This aircraft carrier, formerly a battleship built by Britain for the Chilean Navy, lacked the necessary mine protection design, and two Italian torpedoes tore fatal holes in its hull. At the same time, the fire that had spread throughout the ship also hindered damage control repairs. As a last resort, the captain of the "Eagle" had to give the order to abandon the ship at 10:22.

Just when the "Eagle" was abandoned, the "Rodney" battleship, which was twisting on the sea to make an S-shaped evasion, had already avoided 10 500-kilogram bombs, and also shot them down with the ship's anti-aircraft guns. 2 Ju88s were acquired. But its good luck came to an end. At 10:23, a bomb dropped by a Ju88 bomber piloted by Second Lieutenant William Lister accurately hit the top of the Z turret of the "Rodney". Unfortunately, the 7.1-inch (181mm) thick armor on the top of the main turret of the "Rodney" withstood the test and was not penetrated by the bomb. However, the huge vibration caused by the bomb explosion caused damage to the 279 radar on the top of the bridge, and in The explosion of a huge fireball on the top of the turret still inspired the Ju88 pilots to continue attacking the strongly armored battleship.

Two minutes later, the bomb dropped by the Ju88 bomber piloted by Staff Sergeant Franz Cole finally succeeded, penetrating the bow of the "Rodney" which had no solid armor protection, and opened a huge hole on the bow deck. Breach. Another minute later, a bomb dropped by Sergeant Hans Weber's Ju88 bomber hit the deck near the stern of the Nelson again, directly destroying a secondary battery turret and setting fire to the lifeboats on the nearby lifeboat deck. From a high altitude, smoke billowed from the stern of the battleship "Rodney", as if it had been severely damaged.

The thick smoke and fire made the "Rodney" the most eye-catching target on the sea!