The war sinking of the "Hood" undoubtedly left a very terrifying shadow in the hearts of the British naval officers and soldiers participating in the war. Faced with the emergence of successive German aircraft groups, the newly arrived British fleet did not pursue the German fleet calmly retreating, but instead covered the "Rodney" evacuation to the northeast.

German pilots from the aircraft carrier "Emperor Carl" and Floris Air Force Base did not intend to let these British ships go easily. Without interference from enemy fighters, their bombing hit rate was only slightly lower than the level of exercise, and the price was not greater than expected. Since the risks and benefits were not proportional, how many people would give up the opportunity to become famous in one battle?

The two combat formations met, and the air defense circle of the British fleet became more compact. The low-altitude penetration of the German torpedo aircraft encountered strong obstacles. The pilots had to try to project to a slightly longer distance, but none of the dozen torpedoes hit. In comparison, the impact of the German dive bombers was much smaller. They continued to attack the enemy war patrols with injuries with their best "Osprey" tactics. After several rounds of air strikes, the unmoved British war patrol "Rodney" was hit hard again. The fire at the tail of the ship could not be extinguished for a long time. The black smoke produced by the combustion formed a huge smoke column, which was particularly eye-catching on the open and open sea.

During this process, the German aviation troops lost 1 fighter jet, 3 dive bombers and 3 torpedo aircraft. In order to give them as many strikes as possible before the British fleet slipped out of the bombing range, the Fokker G-51 and Fokker-xi, which took off from the Floris Island Air Force Base, began to load aviation bombs. After the fighter jets that participated in the air strikes had completed loading fuel and ammunition, they would directly enter a new round of attack without resting. Similar situations also occurred on the German aviation "Emperor Carl".

At this time, the German fleet, which was originally retreating towards Floris Island at full speed, quietly slowed down its speed. The reason why William August changed his original intention of leaving was that the British fleet that arrived at the battlefield later did not follow him, and the other was that he had a false alarm from his own aviation force. The pilot who lacked practical experience mistakenly thought that his torpedo hit an enemy undamaged battle cruiser. If two of the three British combat patrols lost most of their maneuvers due to torpedo injuries, and whether the German fleet, which had two combat patrols and had supported the aviation force, should resolutely withdraw, would be a question worth discussing.

So, the victor William August decided to observe the situation again to see if there would be a chance to expand the results of the war, so his fleet could not retreat too far at once, and the brave and warlike soldiers under his command were ready to fight against the enemy, but no one expected that a beautiful vision would become the beginning of a disaster.

Since the German Atlantic Squadron appeared, the senior commanders of the US and British fleet have paid great attention to its whereabouts. After that, the Germans attacked the "June" and then fought head-on with the combat formation commanded by Dudley Pound, and finally sank the British naval battleship "Hood". All of this made the American and British generals who were determined to seize the Azores. They knew very well that the German Atlantic Squadron, which had the core force of the Earl Tirpitz-class battlecruiser was Bina.

If some German coastal defense fortresses were allowed to attack left and right in the waters of the Azores and launch maritime guerrilla warfare with ease, the strategic intention of the US and British fleets to capture Texel Island before the main force of the German navy arrived would not have been successfully implemented. Therefore, Standley gritted his teeth in the early morning of the air battle in Texel Island, which was very critical, and pulled out a York City-class aircraft carrier, allowing them to follow the support fleet composed of four Lexington-class battlecruisers to the Floris Island waters.

When the "Hood" unfortunately sank, the four Lexington-class battlecruisers commanded by Lieutenant General Thomas Hart were still hundreds of kilometers away. Even if these behemoths obtained the ultimate speed through the overload operation of the main engine, they could not get as fast as intercepting the German fleet to evacuate the battlefield, but the aircraft carrier-based aircraft could complete such a task.

The York City class, with a standard displacement of 30,660 tons, is the main aircraft carrier of the US Navy when the war broke out. It is on the same level as the Zeppelin class in Germany and the Glorious class in the UK. The design ideas and combat positioning of the three have their own advantages. As a fleet aircraft carrier, the speed and carrying capacity are given priority. The speed of up to 32 knots is enough to follow the activities of the Lexington-class battlecruiser. The standard aircraft carrier of 96 aircraft carriers of the same class is 1.4 times that of the German aircraft carrier and 1.3 times that of the British aircraft carrier. However, the fierce air combat the day before yesterday consumed a lot of carrier-based aircraft aircraft of the US and British fleets. The three York City class participating in the battle lost 35%-40% of the aviation force. The "Hornet" assigned to pursue the German fleet was only 61 carrier-based aircraft.

It was learned that the British combat patrol "Hood" sank under the joint attack of the German Navy and Air Force. The captain of the "Hornet" Colonel Godfrey Chefrey decided to cause a fatal blow to his opponent by surprise. In order to avoid alarming the enemy, he risked being criticized by friendly forces and did not send fighters to cover and support the British fleet before assembling enough fighter jets. Therefore, when 14 F3F "Flying Barrel" fighters, 6 SB2U "Guardian" dive bombers, and 14 TBD "Destroyer" torpedo bombers suddenly appeared, the Germans were very surprised. They urgently ordered their fighters to drop bombs to intercept them. The Germans who rushed to cover their fleet were soon entangled by the US fighter jets, and most "Guardians" and "Destroyers" were able to approach the German fleet smoothly.

Looking down from the sea from the air, two Count Tirpitz-class battlecruisers were eye-catching and attractive targets of attack. American pilots launched an attack without hesitation. Their combat method was simply to the Germans. The few "guardians" who were too tempted to dive from high altitudes under the anti-aircraft artillery of German warships. Each bombshell could cause the most deadly damage; a large number of "Destroyers" tried to pierce at low altitudes from different directions. In a blink of an eye, the sea was full of tracks left by torpedoes. The Germans were evasive in fear, but they could not escape the disaster in the end.

This time, the loud noise, like a bolt from the blue, came from the "Earl of Tirpitz". An American-made aviation torpedo hit the front of its port side, located directly below the main turret of the No. 2. The violent explosion caused the giant warship with a load of more than 50,000 tons to tremble very violently. The double lightning protection compartment, which was highly anticipated by the designer, failed to perform its ideal effect. Instead, the traditional subdivided watertight compartment saved the extremely expensive German main ship.

Like the "Rodney" in the opponent's camp, the "Earl of Tirpitz" was deviated due to a large amount of water inflow on the port bottom cabin. The loss management department had to inject water into the other side to maintain the balance of the hull. However, in this way, the No. 2 ammunition depot completely inflowed, and the ammunition inside was almost reimbursed at one time. The speed of the warship was sharply reduced to 5 knots. After the leakage was initially controlled, the speed was barely increased to 8 knots.

After being hit hard, William August and his officers and soldiers completely lost their ambition to turn back and kill the British fleet. The best result was to be able to bring the "Earl of Tirpitz" back to the naval base on Floris Island. After the US military fleet returned, the German aviation troops continued to attack the British fleet, but the air strikes were significantly weaker than before, and most fighter jets were transferred to cover their own fleets.

After the "Earl Tirpitz" was damaged, the range that originally only took two hours to become extremely long. About an hour later, the second wave of the US carrier-based aircraft group followed. The German fighter jets that took off from Floris Island were waiting here for a long time. The Fokker G-51, which had an advantage in number, did not allow its opponents to take advantage of this time. Most of the US fighter jets were blocked outside the fleet's air defense circle. Taking advantage of the melee, a small team of "Destroyer" torpedoes found a good opportunity to attack. Four torpedoes formed a perfect fan on the starboard side of the "Earl Tirpitz". Seeing that its flagship was unable to avoid, the destroyer Tirpitz's bravely rushed up and blocked two torpedoes with its own body. The hull of more than 1,000 tons and more than 200 crew members turned into debris in a violent explosion...

Thanks to the fierce performance of its own fighter pilots, the German officers and soldiers became spectators most of the time during the second enemy air strike. However, the dangerous battlefield could not be relaxed for a moment. Two "Guardians" dive bombers suddenly emerged from the clouds and rushed down like diving, passing through the terrifying fire net formed by anti-aircraft shells. Two aviation bombs weighing 1,000 pounds, or 450 kilograms, were dropped on the "Earl of Tirpitz" which was moving slowly on the sea. One slightly deviated, and the other hit the stern of the ship accurately. Even though William August's flagship had its best protection ability, it could not withstand the invasion of large-caliber shells, aviation torpedoes and heavy aviation bombs since the second half of the night. This attack quickly stopped it from moving completely, like a dead giant whale floating quietly on the sea.

With the damage of the "Earl Tirpitz", as long as the crew is given enough time, they can still recover some power and wait until they return to the port before undergoing a major repair. However, what made the Germans extremely desperate was that their reconnaissance planes soon discovered the American fleet coming from the east. Although the Earl Tirpitz class is regarded as the nemesis of the Lexington class, with the current state of the "Earl Tirpitz" and "Prince Heinrich", facing the four intact Lexington class, the only hope is that their naval and air force air force can deal severe damage to the US fleet before it approaches, forcing them to retreat.
Chapter completed!