Before May 1933, the Ramio Coast in the northwest of Texel Island was a small place without any reputation. Since the US and British Allied Forces selected this place as the first landing point to capture Texel Island, it quickly became a well-known battlefield known as the "bloody coast". In order to gain a foothold on this coast with a width of only six kilometers, the US and British Allied Forces invested 6 elite marine regiments. Within three hours of the landing, the attacking party had already paid the heavy price of killing more than 4,000 people. The blood of the US and British officers and soldiers almost soaked the dark green coastline...

The German defense system built on Texel Island is extremely expensive. From a technical point of view, it can be regarded as a perfect existence without blind spots and flaws. Even when many fortresses were severely attacked by US and British warships, the garrison troops still organized strong resistance as soon as the US and British forces launched a landing. This is the direct cause of major casualties in the beachhead area. Another key factor is that the US and British forces failed to master the air supremacy before the landing attack was launched. The original intention of the attacker was to use a surprise attack to destroy most of the German fighter jets on the ground. If the radar warning system deployed on Texel Island had not played a role in time, the US and British forces would have been very likely to have achieved both

If the intention is determined, then in the early morning of May, the German warfare opportunities that appeared on the coast of Ramio were greatly reduced. US and British ships would provide precise fire support to landing troops closer to the coast, and their carrier-based aircraft would also devote more energy to destroying the German defense deployment and troop mobilization. The fact is that the carrier-based aviation forces of the US and British fleets only destroyed about 60% of the German aviation troops on the island of Texel on the day of the battle, and their side lost more than 40% of the carrier-based aircraft and a considerable number of pilots. Therefore, in Japan, the focus of the US and British carrier-based aircraft was still to compete with the German army for air supremacy on the battlefield, and as a result, they could only strive to maintain the relative balance of power over the landing field.

On the other hand, the air force stationed on Texel Island accounted for 70% of the Azores air force. Most of the best-performing Fokker G-51s lost in the first two rounds of air strikes by the enemy. The battles behind had to be replaced with spare old fighters as the main force, and then carried out tactical counterattacks on the enemy fleet. Under the blocking and interference of enemy carrier-based aircraft, the German aviation forces failed to grasp the key points. More than 300 attacks only caused minor injuries to the two enemy aircraft carriers. The battle ended the next day, and they were also exhausted, so they failed to produce enough deterrence to the enemy landings and cover ships approaching Texel Island.

It was in this stalemate and delicate situation that the young German naval commander Gunther Lütjens led his attack formation composed of old battle cruisers on an unexpected adventure. With a clear reply from William August von Oldenburg, the commander of the German Atlantic Squadron, Lütjens ordered the reconnaissance planes to keep a close eye on the enemy's supply ship that was sailing alone, while carefully avoiding the sight of enemy ships and aircraft.

The wilderness, patiently waited for the two aircraft carriers of its side to take place. The Ottoman Sultan, which was located north and had not suffered any losses before, arrived at the command position of Lütjens. The "Emperor Karl" who lost half of the fighter jets in the early battles stayed on the sea near Floris Island. Navy pilots took off from the Floris Island base, and then landed on the "Emperor Karl", and strengthened the combat capabilities of the aircraft carrier with a line of reinforcements.

By around 2 pm, both German aircraft carriers were ready for combat in the waters south of the Lütjens fleet.

The main attacker was in place, Lütjens made a brilliant appearance with his three old battle cruisers. They rushed towards the US oil tanker "Eston" who was returning alone. This huge 10,000-ton ship was equipped with single-carrier guns, machine guns and four-unit machine guns, and had certain air defense capabilities. Looking at the German battle cruiser that was rushing towards, the captain and his sailors were stunned: there was no need to think about fighting, and they would definitely run away. Fortunately, all the cargo on the ship had been added to the oil tanks of their light cruisers and destroyers. At this time, it was just an empty ship. They quickly used a transmitter to send out information about the position of the ship and the enemy fleet's visual situation, and then waited very calmly for the enemy ship to approach, and even raised a white flag on the flagpole according to the German requirements.

At this moment, the main force of the US and British fleets gathered in the Texel Island waters more than a hundred nautical miles away. It is impossible to reach the location of the "Eston" in a short time, but such a distance is not far away for aircraft carrier-based aircraft, and the Germans did not seem to plan to stay here for more. They asked the American crew to abandon the ship immediately. After everyone boarded the lifeboat and left, the German battle patrol happily shot a round of targets. Several large-caliber shells ignited the fire. The Americans drifting on the sea could only watch it slowly capsized and sank.

The "Eston" that had no power to fight back, the German fleet continued to sail northward. Before they could disappear from the vision of the American crew members, a team of white painted fighter jets flew from the southeast. Although they didn't know whether they belonged to the United States or the British Navy, nor did they know which aircraft carrier they came from, the angry American crew cheered indulged in. The news that the American carrier-based aircraft wiped out a German super battle cruiser this morning had spread throughout the world with the radio waves. Since the big guy who claimed to be invincible could be sunk, what are the old German battle patrols in front of them?

It was discovered that the "Eston" had been sunk, and the torpedo aircraft that came from afar caught up with the German fleet without hesitation. The two sides immediately launched a powerful sea and air war. Before the war broke out, the Germans had systematically modernized all their old main ships, and their air defense capabilities were greatly enhanced in the early stages. However, due to the constraints of hard conditions, it was still more difficult to fight against enemy aircraft than the new warships built in the mid-to-late 1920s. The fierce battle lasted for about ten minutes. The German fleet fired smoke from the sky, but only shot down one enemy aircraft. During this period, it was forced to be embarrassed by the torpedo dropped by the enemy aircraft. One of the three battle patrols also raised rolling black smoke.

Seeing this, the American crew members who were wandering in the ocean were cheering, and the news of bombing traumatizing an enemy ship was soon reported to the rear fleet through the carrier-based aircraft pilots participating in the battle.

Two Earl Tirpitz-class battlecruisers sank and injured. In addition to the two aircraft carriers that hide their heads and tails, the most threatening force of the German Atlantic Squadron is these three old-fashioned battle patrols that were domineering in the last war. Of course, the commanders of the US and British fleets knew this very well. Although the frontlines of Texel Island were in full swing, the torpedo planes equipped on the ship were useless in the land and air battles. They effortlessly drew out three squadrons of torpedo planes, and they were in a state of killing all three old-fashioned German battle patrols in one go.

Following the flight route of the friend aircraft, 37 American and British torpedo aircraft took off from five aircraft carriers successfully found the German fleet that exposed its direction for an empty ship. Pilots who like to think would be curious about the stupid behavior of the Germans. When they were about to launch an attack, they suddenly found themselves trapped in the ambush circle of German fighter jets, some people finally realized part of the reason, while others did not know until death that there was anything wrong with it.

In less than a quarter of an hour, 22 Albarot H-25 carrier-based fighters from the "Emperor Karl" and the "Ottoman Sultan" shot down 21 enemy torpedo planes very fiercely. The remaining 16 American and British fighters scattered in panic without the cover of fighter jets. Although there was no formation, in this vast sea, they had the option of returning to their own aircraft carriers.

The German carrier-based fighter jets, which had won a great victory, climbed to a high altitude quickly and quietly followed the retreating American and British torpedo planes toward the southeast. The high cost of the h-25 is reflected in its excellent flight and combat performance. Long range is a major advantage of its carrier-based fighter jets. Moreover, they carried a secondary fuel tank in this battle, so it was no problem to sprint back and forth in the waters of the Azores.

As the torpedo planes returning in a panic gradually approached the fleet airspace, the radio monitoring equipment on many US and British warships captured a monotonous and regular radio signal. These signals were obviously not used to convey complex information. Some sensitive officers soon realized that this signal was probably the enemy's navigation beacon, but when they began to take interference measures, it was too late that 26 Ju-17 dive bombers and 17 IK-22t torpedo planes that took off from two German aircraft carriers approached the US and British fleet under the guidance and cover of their own fighters. The target of this blitzkrieg attack was very clear, that is, every aircraft carrier on the sea!

In the afternoon, the US-UK landing forces on the coast of Ramio continued to expand their beachheads. In order to suppress the US-UK warships that were shelled on the other side, German aviation forces launched two large-scale bombings, severely damaging the US-Massachusetts and injuring the British battleship "monarchy", posing a great threat to the US-UK ships operating in the near-shore area. At this critical moment, most carrier-based fighters and bombers on the US-UK aircraft carrier were sent to the front line of Texel Island. Several fighters who remained as a warning were rushed to the German Albarot H-25.

The US and British fleets withstood the series of air strikes by the German land-based aviation forces the day before. Now, facing the dozens of German fighter jets that suddenly attacked, most of the officers and soldiers were not in panic. They calmly used anti-aircraft guns and cannons to organize defense. However, many of these German carrier-based aircraft participated in the battle to attack the "Hood" and verified their attack tactics in actual combat. A simple and effective tactic may become a key factor in changing the outcome of the battle. With the support of fighter jets and torpedo aircraft, the ju-17s have repeatedly found opportunities for sneak attacks. If the bomb drop hit rate is higher, they may even lose suspense to the Battle of the Azores this afternoon.
Chapter completed!