"Target appears!" a Royal Navy observer shouted loudly: "Fighters, they are all fighter planes!"
The observer's words caused a wave of heart palpitations in the commander of the British vanguard fleet, Lord Forbes.
In the distance, a vast group of black spots was gradually approaching his vanguard fleet. Even without a telescope, Sir Forbes could see with the naked eye that these were obviously the black spots of fighter planes.
Fighter aircraft have always been an extremely important force in human wars. In land warfare, seizing air supremacy is equivalent to seizing the initiative in the battle.
In naval battles, the side with aircraft carriers has a transcendent advantage over the fleet without aircraft carriers.
In fact, the world's first real aircraft carrier was the "HMS Arena", which was built by the British Navy in 1918. It was the first aircraft carrier to truly adopt an island structure. It was also the first to propose a maritime combat model with fighter planes as the main body.
They are also British military scholars.
In the eyes of people who hold this view, as long as the problem of the range of fighter planes can be solved, the overwhelming number of fighter planes, the lower cost compared to warships, and the fewer casualties when they are destroyed, will be enough for them to dominate the oceans
.
The emergence of mobile airports on the sea, such as aircraft carriers, provides them with the best way to solve the range problem.
It is conceivable that although the firepower of giant battleships is powerful, battleships in the ocean are not cheap fortifications and tanks on the ground after all. The loss of a battleship, in addition to the loss of funds and resources to manufacture the battleship, the greater loss is that hundreds of
Thousands of crew members.
A tank with a simple structure or a small aircraft, as long as a production line is established, can be destroyed in just a few hours on average. And even if it is destroyed, the loss of personnel will only be in single digits.
The time required for a battleship, from manufacturing to debugging, to sea trials, to forming combat effectiveness, is measured in years. Once lost, it is really difficult to bear easily!
However, being the first to propose aircraft carrier tactics does not mean that the British were the first to master this tactic. Ironically, it was the Royal Navy's excellent tradition of giant ship tactics that ensured the accuracy of British naval bombardment.
, also made them rest on their laurels and stopped trying aircraft carrier tactics.
Now that we already have powerful artillery combat capabilities worth relying on, why take the risk of using aircraft carrier tactics that are immature and only exist in theory?
This idea caused the British Empire, which was the first to possess aircraft carriers, to dabble in this tactic and stay stuck in its ways, leaving the aircraft carriers alone and using battleships and cruisers as the main force of the battle.
There is nothing wrong with this tactic of the British, because the aircraft carrier needs enough battleship escorts, and it is easy to be destroyed by the enemy when placed on the front line. After all, the aircraft carrier's own defense capabilities are too weak. Once destroyed, the fighter planes will lose their combat capabilities.
capabilities. And the high cost of aircraft carriers makes this loss extremely unworthy.
The British generals did not ignore the two German aircraft carriers known in the intelligence. However, they made judgments based on their own perspective and experience. They believed that the Germans, like them, would not be stupid enough to use aircraft carriers as vanguards. They believed that the Germans
The vanguard fleet will also be dominated by surface combatants.
It wasn't until Sir Forbes saw with his own eyes the terrifying German fighter planes spread out in the sky ahead, like piranhas, that he suddenly realized that not everyone was using the same tactics as them. At least, the Germans had now adopted a new tactic.
At this time, any words used to express confidence in Sir Bruce's mood are redundant.
Just look at the approaching German planes and the traces of clouds cut by fighter planes in the sky. It is not difficult to guess the ending ten minutes later.
"God!" Sir Forbes stared at this scene, clenched his fists and gritted his teeth: "Send a telegram to Admiral Cunningham, saying that our First Squadron is finished. If he doesn't want to lose 6 ships in one go
Battleships, as well as all the destroyers and cruisers of the First Fleet, then let our aircraft carriers take off carrier-based aircraft for rescue immediately!"
Obviously, Sir Forbes already knows that with the little carrier-based anti-aircraft firepower of the First Squadron in his hands, it is estimated that the German carrier-based aircraft, which has at least 200 aircraft in front of him, will be beaten to a bloody head. He no longer expects to be able to rely on it
The battleship's own anti-aircraft guns can repel those German fighter planes that are as dangerous as piranhas.
German fighter planes, at the fastest speed, transformed from a small black dot in the distance into a vigorous and agile Petrel. They rolled past the anti-aircraft fire line fired by the British warships.
Although the British battleships commanded by Forbes have maintained an inverted V formation and have set up anti-aircraft fire targets. The bow anti-aircraft guns of each battleship are aimed at the direction in which the German fighter planes are roaring.
However, masturbation is really not that easy. At least, these British sailors who practice naval artillery battles all year round are good at artillery and aiming at sea targets. But they are very unfamiliar with masturbation.
They did not know that the bandit German High Seas Fleet would rise again in such a short period of time. They did not know to what extent their opponents had risen, and they did not know that they had actually mastered the era-defining aircraft carrier tactics. In the face of the oncoming air torrent
In the past, these behemoths on the sea seemed so thin and fragile.
No one can remind them.
From the moment they built the warship, British designers ignored the fact that their opponents had aircraft carriers, and therefore did not deliberately strengthen the anti-aircraft firepower and the top armor of the warship.
Not to mention those designers, not even Lord Forbes, the commander of the First Squadron, or even Admiral Cunningham of the Home Fleet, could predict such a rapid and huge development of the German Navy.
At least for now, Sir Forbes, who witnessed this scene with his own eyes, stood there dumbfounded, watching with horrified eyes the tsunami-like huge wave in the sky, rushing towards the first squadron of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, which was leisurely and conceited just now.
Reinhardt's first mixed fleet of the High Seas Fleet did not adopt any surprise tactics.
They don't need any fancy tricks, this is just an ordinary battle. However, the German Navy uses conventional aircraft carrier tactics, while the British Navy uses conventional battleship tactics.
Lütjens, using a simple aircraft carrier tactic, explained a truth to British commanders: Britain is no longer the only country in European waters today.
All British people who are still intoxicated in the myth of the invincibility of the Imperial Navy must accept the reality. It is time to wake up from their sweet dreams!
More than 200 fighter planes flying in formation on the blue sea are so spectacular.
They come from the German Navy, they are the naval force of Germany!
