The Rise of the Third Reich

"boom……"

A huge flame rose from the bow of the light cruiser "Sydney", and a main gun turret suddenly turned into fragments. If the fire door of the ammunition depot had not been tightly closed, this ship belonged to the Australian Navy (actually The cruiser (part of the British Royal Navy) is about to sink to the bottom of the sea.

"Admiral, the Sydney has been hit by another bomb..."

"The Neptune reported that the stern of the ship was penetrated by a bomb, and the bomb exploded in the engine room. The Neptune completely lost power..."

"It was the light patrol deck of the Orion that caught fire..."

"Admiral, they are attacking our light cruisers. They want to..." Looking at the light cruisers being hit by bombs one after another outside the air defense formation, Rear Admiral Crutchley, the chief of staff of the Mediterranean Fleet, had already guessed a little bit of the opponent's intentions.

"It looks like there's going to be a tough fight tonight."

Cunningham shook his head. He knew very well that the Italian fleet was chasing him, and if nothing unexpected happened, there would be an artillery battle tonight. He only has 4 intact battleships in his hands, while the opponent has 6 intact battleships in his hands, including 2 powerful "Veneto" class ships! This class of battleships is a cutting-edge 1939 or 40-year-old battleship, and it must be a "default ship" with excessive protection and tonnage!

And according to reliable intelligence, the Italian battleships are also equipped with radars provided by Germany. Although the quality of the German radar may not be as good as the 279 radar, it will not be too far behind. Therefore, it is impossible for the Mediterranean fleet to win tonight's night battle and can only seek a safe retreat.

To retreat, the role of light cruisers and destroyers cannot be ignored. In particular, the light cruisers of the Mediterranean Fleet all follow radar, while most Italian cruisers do not have radar available.

But now the German dive bombers are constantly dropping bombs on the light cruisers, which will make the Mediterranean Fleet lose its last ace tonight...

"Admiral, disband the fleet after dark..." Rear Admiral Crutchley suggested in a low voice.

Disbanding the fleet can at least ensure that some of the "quick" ships can escape, but the "Rodney" and "Resolution" that have been severely damaged may be in serious trouble.

Cunningham glanced at Major General Crutchley, "Do you think the Rodney and the Resolution will not be saved?"

Crutchley nodded sadly, "The Rodney's rudder was damaged and its speed dropped to 15 knots. It's impossible to escape."

Even if the ship's rudder is gone, it doesn't necessarily mean that you can't escape, as long as there are other ships to help change the course. But such a ship cannot fight, especially since the Rodney's stern has no main guns and even the secondary guns have been blown up. In this case, as long as a destroyer releases a torpedo from behind the Rodney's butt, it can sink it!

Cunningham smiled bitterly: "That's the Rodney!" He sighed, "Let's give it one last try!"

"How hard?"

"That's it," Cunningham said, "we can set an ambush for the enemy..."

…

"Air attack! Torpedo planes!"

A petty officer on the lookout post of the "Eagle" aircraft carrier, who was twisting left and right to perform an S-shaped maneuver to avoid bombs falling from high altitude, suddenly let out a terrified scream.

Because he saw an incredible scene. Dozens of planes skimming the sea suddenly appeared on the sea! Through the telescope, he discovered that flying at the front were some very clumsy-looking biplanes. This experienced lookout officer knew that these low-flying biplanes must be carrying torpedoes. They must be British torpedo bombers like the "Swordfish" aircraft!

"Biplane torpedo plane!?" When Admiral Anzu Aquino heard the news, his mouth opened so wide that he could stuff his fist into it.

"Aircraft carrier! The British aircraft carrier is nearby!" Admiral Anzu Aquino had already reacted, "But where are they hiding?"

"Admiral, recall the Fokker Zero quickly!" A staff officer had already reacted. "The torpedo planes must be blocked, otherwise the aircraft carrier will be doomed!"

The "Eagle" and the "Sparrowhawk" are not the "Zeppelin" class that the Germans are building. They have strong mine-proof compartments and anti-sinking designs (waterproof compartments at the bottom). It is not difficult to hit a few aviation torpedoes. It won't be a big deal. These two Italian aircraft carriers are modified cruise ships and are the basis of cruise ships. They have no mine protection compartments at all. A single torpedo may cause fatal damage...

"Quickly give the order to the Fokker aircraft, let them do whatever it takes..." Admiral Anzu Aquino suddenly gritted his teeth, "Keep the 'Eagle' aircraft carrier at all costs! Let all the Fokker aircraft come to protect the 'Eagle' 'Number!"

"Admiral, what about the Sparrowhawk?"

Admiral Anzu Aquino said with a serious face: "In order to revive the Roman Empire, Italy must have an aircraft carrier... and the sacrifice of the Sparrowhawk and its crew will forever be remembered by the descendants of the new Roman Empire. Keep it in mind!”

After hearing this, the Italian naval officers in the command tower of the "Eagle" looked at Admiral Aquino with admiration - an admiral is an admiral after all, he just has the level.

The admiral's order was quickly transmitted via radio to the German pilots like Little Hersman who were killing people in the air.

Although Germany's 9th Carrier Aircraft Group is a newly formed unit, the pilots are all "veterans" who have flown carrier-based aircraft, and everyone has shot down more than 2 aircraft. Their skills are not comparable to the British Air Force pilots flying P-39 on Crete, and the performance of their Fokker Zero far exceeds that of the P-39. Therefore, the P-39 fighter jets and Blenheim bombers that flew from Crete suffered a one-sided massacre, and more than 30 of them were shot down in less than 20 minutes! If it weren't for the small number of Fokker Zeros, they would have been wiped out by now.

After receiving the order to defend the USS Eagle aircraft carrier, little Hersman and his comrades were not at all reluctant to fight. They all left the P-39s and Blenheim light bombers that were killed and disarmed, and gathered around the "Eagle". "Around the USS aircraft carrier.

Lieutenant Colonel Williamson, who served as the commander-in-chief of the carrier-based aircraft air attack formation of "Ark Royal" and "Glorious", also discovered that all Fokker Zeros were concentrated to protect an aircraft carrier.

Although he did not understand the intentions of an Italian admiral who made the right decision at the critical moment, he immediately ordered all 60 torpedo aircraft to deal with the Sparrowhawk without the protection of the Fokker Zero.

The first wave of attacks was launched by six "Mackerel" aircraft led by Lieutenant Colonel Williamson. The six aircraft braved the not-intensive anti-aircraft fire from the "Sparrowhawk" and the two destroyers escorting it. The torpedo was dropped less than 1,500 meters away from the "Sparrowhawk". The "Sparrowhawk" twisted and evaded on the sea surface desperately, dodging 5 torpedoes, but one still hit it amidships, tearing a gap several meters wide. Suddenly hundreds of tons of seawater poured in, but for an aircraft carrier converted from a cruise ship of more than 20,000 tons, this was not an immediate fatal damage.

So the second and third waves of torpedo attacks were launched a few minutes later, and three more torpedoes hit the starboard side of the "Sparrowhawk", one of which also broke the engine room. At this time, the "Sparrowhawk" began to tilt at a speed that could be detected by the naked eye. In less than 5 minutes, it tilted more than 15 degrees to the right, and even part of the bottom of the ship was exposed to the water.

"Admiral, the captain of the Sparrowhawk requests to abandon the ship..."

After hearing the staff report, General Anzu Aquino gritted his teeth. He knew that the "Sparrowhawk" was finished!

Originally, he thought that the "Sparrowhawk" could support it for a while longer, at least for an hour, so that the BF-110 and Fw-190 taking off from Sicily would arrive...

"Abandoning the ship is allowed!" Anzu Aquino gritted his teeth and said, "Let everyone cheer up, now we have to rely on our own support!"

…

"God, am I right? The Sparrowhawk is going to sink!"

An unknown voice suddenly sounded in little Hessman's earphones. He quickly looked in the direction of the Sparrowhawk, and his heart suddenly tightened. This 20,000-ton aircraft carrier has almost turned 90 degrees and will sink soon!

"Don't worry about the Sparrowhawk, our mission is to save the Eagle!" Little Hersman turned on the radio and shouted an order. "Don't pay attention to those Blenheims. Blocking the torpedo planes is the most important thing!"

As soon as his order was issued, a fierce air battle began outside the anti-aircraft fire circle of the Eagle and several cruisers and destroyers escorting it. Of course, the British torpedo planes would not charge hard. Their speed was too slow and there was no hope of breaking through the blockade composed of Fokker Zeros. But the British also have the P-39 and the "Fulker Nose". Although the performance of these two aircraft is not as good as the Fokker Zero, they are twice as many in number. Now they swarmed up and immediately became one with the Fokker Zero. group. From time to time, planes were shot and fell into the water. Since the firefight occurred at low altitude, the pilots on these downed planes did not even have a chance to escape by parachuting!

"Now, take advantage of the moment!" Lieutenant Colonel Williamson issued an order to the torpedo planes again, "Charge the torpedo planes! For the sake of the British Empire, charge!"

Under Williamson's order, six torpedo planes rushed toward the Italian aircraft carrier fleet's anti-aircraft firepower network. One was shot down on the spot, and the other five successfully dropped torpedoes.

"torpedo!"

"Anti-impact, prepare!"

"boom……"

A black shadow like a barracuda slammed into the burly body of the Italian aircraft carrier "Eagle" from under the blue waves. Huge waves surged onto the deck. The nearly 30,000-ton ship trembled violently, as if it was about to collapse. Disintegrated in this huge explosion...