Five hundred and sixtieth chapters Churchill came to power
The British carrier-based aircraft have not completed a comprehensive replacement. In addition to the advanced Spitfire, there are also a large number of old Swordfish aircraft. The flying speed of these Swordfish aircraft is far from comparable to that of the new fighters. Therefore, the Swordfish attack formation is far away.
It came later than Spitfire.
However, it is better to come early than to come by chance. Two German aircraft carriers happened to appear in front of us, and at this time, the carrier-based aircraft on the Bismarck and Tirpitz had already been dispatched. Several destroyers and frigates behind them were only protecting.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for British pilots.
They flew the Swordfish aircraft and launched a frantic attack on the German aircraft carrier, but the Swordfish aircraft was still too lagging behind. The maximum speed of this biplane was only a little over 200 kilometers, which was only one-third of the new carrier-based aircraft.
Germany's aircraft carrier technology has been copied from China, and it is well aware of the importance of air defense. Therefore, Germany's aircraft carriers and various types of ships have focused on strengthening their air defense capabilities. At this time, all air defense artillery fire was opened at the same time, and countless fire snakes attacked the Bismarck and
The Tirpitz turned into two giant hedgehogs, airtight.
The Swordfish aircraft struggled through the fire net, and from time to time a plane was shot down. At this time, the two aircraft carriers also quickly retreated to the cloudy area to avoid attacks.
It has been more than six hours since the war started. It will soon be dark. By then it will be very difficult to attack. The eyes of these royal pilots are also red. Now Britain has lost two aircraft carriers.
, and Germany only lost one old Munich. If it cannot sink these two more powerful Nazi aircraft carriers now, Britain will undoubtedly lose the victory.
They may even lose control of the sea. Everyone knows what this means for an island country. Therefore, these pilots no longer cared about anything, took on a desperate posture, and rushed towards the German warship at full speed.
The wing of a Swordfish aircraft was damaged and black smoke was emitted. However, the pilot made a very bold decision at this time. He drove the aircraft towards the Bismarck with difficulty. The distance between the two was very small.
We are soon within fifty meters.
The German soldiers finally felt the crisis. What was even worse was that the plane had entered a shooting blind spot. Large-caliber anti-aircraft guns could not hit it at all. Several soldiers even took out their pistols to shoot, hoping to shoot down the shaky plane.
Swinging swordfish.
But they were disappointed. The plane and the torpedoes it carried hit the side of the Bismarck, followed by a violent explosion. The British pilot and his plane disappeared in the sea of fire.
In fact, when the pilot was approaching the Bismarck, his chest had already been shot through. He relied entirely on his tenacious willpower, used his life to forge a magic arrow, and completed the heroic blow.
The pilot's crazy behavior greatly shocked the German army. The British were not cowards, but heroes who could fight to the death. The people who were most shocked were the British themselves. The remaining Swordfish pilots all knew that their aircraft were old.
, without a desperate attack, it would be difficult to damage the Nazi aircraft carrier. If these two aircraft carriers can continue to fight, the situation of the British Isles will be under unprecedented threat.
A sacred thing surged in the chest of every pilot. They imitated the pilots who carried out suicide attacks, ignoring the intensive anti-aircraft firepower and desperately ramming towards the Nazi aircraft carrier.
This style of mutual destruction has been used on battlefields since ancient times. Don’t think that Japan’s kamikaze squads are special. It’s just that they turned this behavior into an organized and planned action. Regardless of
On any other battlefield, there will be soldiers who take the initiative to sacrifice themselves.
The twenty-odd British Swordfish aircraft caused great trouble to Germany. Although planes continued to be shot down, they still tenaciously approached the two aircraft carriers.
The side of the Bismarck was attacked, but the Germans fully considered the defense requirements when designing the aircraft carrier. The Germans did not install too much armor, but built a large number of watertight cabins, in addition to ammunition and oil.
Things like this were placed separately, so there was no fatal explosion, but a piece of the deck was lost.
There is no doubt that this issue shows that the design ideas of Chinese and German aircraft carriers far exceed those of the British.
Soon two more Swordfish broke through the German blockade. One of them successfully dropped a bomb. During the process of being pulled up, it was hit by an anti-aircraft gun and exploded in the air. The other one was also injured and could only hit it head-on.
Aboard the Tirpitz.
The plane hit the bridge of the Tirpitz. The violent explosion took away the lives of more than a dozen German soldiers. In addition, many command personnel were killed and injured. The ensuing fire spread throughout the deck.
At this time, there were only five Swordfish left in the sky. At this time, the German attack fleet had returned in large numbers. A total of three waves of attacks were organized in Germany. In the second wave of attacks, the Germans successfully wounded Guanghui.
USS Indomitable and USS Indomitable, these two aircraft carriers did not sink because of their outstanding defense capabilities.
However, in the third wave of attacks, the Indomitable was hit by two more torpedoes. Two large holes were drilled into the hull, and the power system was completely destroyed. There was no possibility of saving it. The British could only let the destroyer out of resentment.
The Indomitable was sunk, and the aircraft carrier Victory was also damaged, leaving a large hole on the deck.
So far, three of the seven British aircraft carriers have been sunk: Fury, Ark Royal, and Indomitable. In addition, Glory and Victory have been damaged and need to be repaired. It can be said that more than three-quarters of their combat effectiveness has been lost.
The hearts of the British are bleeding. These are the essence of the Royal Navy, sinking to the bottom of the sea. Even if Britain can win the final victory, the outcome will probably be worse than the First World War.
Their only hope was that Germany's losses would be greater, preferably all three aircraft carriers would be sunk. At this time, the German aircraft carriers were indeed in a bad situation. British Swordfish aircraft successfully damaged two aircraft carriers.
Dönitz also felt very pressured. He was very satisfied with the results of the German army. He lost one Munich in exchange for three British aircraft carriers. If the battle continued at this ratio, Britain would be finished. However, Germany had to survive the Swordfish first.
Attack was enough, but these old-fashioned aircraft actually caused unprecedented trouble to Germany, which gave Dönitz a new understanding of the British's determination to resist.
At this time, the German fighter planes rushed back. When they saw that their aircraft carrier was being attacked by ugly British aircraft, they went crazy and launched a desperate attack. In an instant, two more Swordfish were shot down.
The remaining three Swordfish planes also knew that there was no possibility of escape. They all became violent and rammed the German warship without any scruples. One of them hit the escorting Prinz Eugen, and the two foreign aircraft
One was shot down by Bismarck's anti-aircraft fire.
The last one hit the deck of the Tirpitz again. A large hole with a diameter of two meters suddenly appeared on the deck, and the internal structure was severely damaged. However, due to the timely control of the German Navy, no accident occurred.
The consequences would be more serious, but the Tirpitz could no longer accommodate the aircraft at this time.
All JCDecaux's carrier-based aircraft had to land on the Bismarck. The deck of the Bismarck was also damaged, and the number of aircraft that could be accommodated was limited. Fortunately, the German aircraft carrier was only about 200 kilometers away from the Norwegian coast, and many aircraft were simply replenishing fuel.
After that, we went straight to Norway.
Dönitz commanded the two aircraft carriers to slowly withdraw from the battlefield. This time Germany lost one aircraft carrier and nearly seventy carrier-based aircraft. The Bismarck and Tirpitz were injured, especially the Tierpitz.
It took several months for the Erpitz to be repaired, and the Prinz Eugen was also sunk.
However, the results they achieved were extremely brilliant. Britain sank three aircraft carriers and seriously damaged two. In addition, the Royal Navy's battlecruiser HMS Glory Hood was also sunk, and a destroyer and escort ship was also lost.
The Royal Fleet that once sailed across the Atlantic could only return to the anchorage in Scapa Flow under the cover of night with numerous scars. In fact, the British were lucky. Germany was expected to achieve greater results, but the problem was
Air Marshal Göring.
According to the original plan, German army bombers would also participate in the operation and join forces with the navy to attack the British fleet. In this way, the German fighter planes would have a huge advantage. However, Goering was unwilling to let the air force become an appendage of the navy.
Instead of fully supporting the naval operations, a large number of aircraft were sent to northern Norway to bomb British army troops aiding Norway.
As a result, only a dozen German shore-based bombers participated in the operation. These pilots were seriously insufficiently trained to attack sea targets and did not play their due role at all. They only sank one destroyer, so the Royal Air Force had a lucky escape.
Pass a tribulation.
In addition, the injuries to the Bismarck and Tirpitz were also closely related to Göring. Out of the desire for power and gain, Göring did not send enough aircraft to escort the two aircraft carriers. Many people in later generations thought that it was Goering's stupidity that saved them.
It strengthened the backbone of the British Navy and gave the British Empire the courage to resist.
At this time, Britain already knew the outcome of the naval battle. Mr. Chamberlain finally lost his last excuse to stay in office. To be fair, Chamberlain was still very successful in domestic affairs. In particular, he promoted the medical security plan, which was regarded as the beginning of the welfare state.
However, at the juncture of the war, he was too weak to lead Britain, and Churchill, who had always been tough, finally came to power.
After accepting the appointment from the King of England, the big fat man immediately gave a radio speech to the whole country: "The British Empire has reached its most critical moment. We have to make a choice between victory or death. Anyone who tries to gain safety through compromise and surrender will
The ideas are all stupid. We are facing a most vicious regime that has never appeared in human history. If we fail, all the glory of Britain will be lost, as well as the security of the entire free world. There is no value in trying to stay safe.
, we will either win or die..." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)