Accompanied by a sharp friction, another ir-30t carrier-based fighter landed on the flat and spacious flight deck of the Ulster. Before it could completely stop, several aircrews quickly stepped forward, started from the wings and the rear of the fuselage, and pushed it to the stop area at the stern of the ship. There were already dozens of fighters and bombers participating in the first wave of air strikes, and the aircrews quickly folded their wings to free up as much space as possible for subsequent landing aircraft.

The parking area of ​​aircraft with a folded wing structure is much smaller than that of non-folded wing aircraft. The US aircraft carrier has a large capacity. In addition to using a large-capacity double-layer hangar, another important reason is that the Grumman F3F, Boeing F4B, Waters B2U, and Douglas TBD in their current service are all folded wing structures. Moreover, the fuselage of these carrier-based aircraft is mostly short, and the rear fuselage is quite cramped, affecting some performance, but it can occupy less hangars and install more aircraft. In order to maintain its superior air combat performance as much as possible, the naval version of the British "Shanying" fighter "Seahawk", the German main carrier-based aircraft H-25, finally used fixed wings, which directly affected the overall load of aircraft carriers of the two countries.

Pushing open the canopy cover, unbutton the seat belt, unload the parachute bag, and take off the flight cap with an oxygen mask and communication equipment. After doing these actions, the pilot took a deep breath and then climbed out of the flight cabin.

The air crew members on the side saluted him one after another: "Congratulations on your return!"

The young pilot with golden hair, wide forehead and long face nodded politely. He turned to check his fighter plane. There were two series of bullet holes arranged on the outside of the wing and the middle and rear of the fuselage. The enemy's bullets hit the fuel tank just a dozen centimeters away.

The pilot suddenly stared at the bullet holes as if he had lost his head, and then silently drew a cross on his forehead and chest.

At this time, a thick fleshy hand slapped his shoulder from behind, and a cheerful voice came into his ears: "Hey, Ain, did you kill two or three? I saw you flipped Yin Maiman, so beautiful, the guy you shot down was completely stunned! Hahaha!"

The pilot with a wide forehead and long face turned his head and forced a smile to his companion: "You are doing a good job too!"

The visitor was solid, his neck was almost as thick as his head, and he was tiring his capable buzz cut. He glanced at the bullet holes on his companion's plane and made a very surprised expression. He walked over and reached out to touch them: "Wow, Ain, it seems that the goddess of luck is with you today. There are at least forty bullet holes here, and you are not hurt at all."

"Yes, I almost paid a heavy price for my small mistake. Once I ignored it when I was sliding and attacking, and another time I paused when I changed the roll. Such mistakes should not be made, but on the battlefield..."

The buzz cut opened his mouth and showed a comforting smile: "Don't blame yourself. When you first went to the battlefield, everyone must be very nervous. I think it would be good to be able to perform half of the training level, and you performed at least 80%. Take your time! With the lessons learned from the previous one, you will get better and better in the future."

The harsh friction sound came with a stream of air, and another carrier-based aircraft landed. The two turned around and looked at the "Osprey". The incomplete cockpit hood looked heartbreaking, and they didn't know how the pilot was. The air crew and a small team of ambulance personnel were waiting quickly forward. After the engine stopped running, the front-seat pilot quickly stood up and turned, nervously checking his partner's injuries. After a while, the ambulance personnel raised the blood-covered bombardment hand, and the front-seat pilot was about to cry.

Witnessing this scene, the pilot with a wide forehead and a long face became more and more complicated.

Banbutt patted his arm: "Let's go! Go and have a cup of soda, eat a cake, have a good rest. There must be many attack tasks later, and today is the most critical day."

In the command room of the island bridge, Captain Stephen Coleman looked at the flight deck through the square porthole. In terms of the results, the first wave of air strikes by the Allied fleet on the enemy was a great success, but this does not mean that they are already sure to win. Since the enemy's ground forces have basically occupied Texel Island and established field airports on the island, the situation of this battle has become very subtle, and an unexpected loss may change the current situation.

The Ulster class is the so-called standard aircraft carrier designed and built by Ireland. It is called the Allies class in the German Navy. Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire each ordered one, namely the "Galibody" of Italy and the "Tegethof" of Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Ottoman Navy originally planned to order two, but the Egyptian uprising, the North Caucasus conflict and the Persian war caused the Ottoman fee to surge, so this plan was withdrawn indefinitely. The biggest advantage of standard ships is that they are simple and practical. The construction cost of the Allies class and Ulster class is only about half of the Zeppelin class. Moreover, with the opening of the curtain of the war, Germany and Ireland have started the assembly line production of medium-sized aircraft carriers. It takes only eight to nine months to build the first six of Ireland and twelve Germans built.

The other side of simple and practical is its vulnerability. The Ulster is a prototype ship of Ulster and Allied class. Its standard displacement is only 20,350 tons, and its protection level is comparable to that of the standard military-class heavy cruiser. If you are lucky, a torpedo or several aviation bombs may send it to the bottom of the sea. Half an hour ago, the Allied fleet was attacked by US and British aircraft. A medium-sized aviation bomb fell near the port side of the Ulster and immediately exploded through the armor two meters below its waterline, causing leakage of an oil tank and two watertight tanks. Although this is a minor injury, it exposed the protection shortcomings of the aircraft carrier. If it lands near the side, it is not a medium-sized aviation bomb but a heavy bomb of more than 200 kilograms, or if it is hit directly, what should it do?

"Sir, Zeppelin issued an order. The third batch of aircraft will start to assemble after 30 minutes. The formation will set out in 40 minutes. No delays shall be made for each ship."

After listening to the staff officer's notice, Colonel Coleman responded calmly: "I understand."

Compared with the expensive main aircraft carriers, the Ulster and the Allies are simple but not simple. They are equipped with two conventional elevators and a spare elevator. The design of the hangar and flight deck is very reasonable, so it can carry four carrier-based aircraft squadrons with a displacement of only 20,000 tons, and complete the takeoff and recovery of the carrier-based aircraft at a faster speed. At present, half of the carrier-based aircraft that attacked the first wave of carrier-based aircraft have landed. As long as the remaining aircraft are not delayed in the middle, they can complete the entire recycling work within ten minutes. Then the return aircraft is sent back to the hangar and the third batch of fighter jets that are ready to be sent to the deck. The time is just enough.

The first attack wave, in order to severely attack the enemy aircraft carrier formation, the Allied fleet sent nearly 60% of all carrier-based aircraft. In the second attack wave, they sent 84 carrier-based aircraft to finish the attack, so there were only 68 carrier-based aircrafts with the third attack wave, and an average of one squadron was sent for each aircraft carrier. Just after 5 o'clock, there was at least one more wave before dark, and that was likely a battle that determined the outcome of the battle.

After almost a cup of coffee, the pilots who participated in the first wave of air strikes and returned safely were summoned to the combat conference room of the Ulster. Before this, most of the information about the enemy fleet was provided by the Azores garrison troops, and it was mainly written description. Only Admiral Bernke's flagship obtained aerial photos and other intuitive information delivered by the aircraft dispatched by the garrison command before the battle was launched. These valuable resources were not available to share with the pilots participating in the battle of each aircraft carrier, and the enemy situation would change accordingly over time, so the pilots were facing opponents they did not really understand, and fortunately this situation would not continue. After experiencing the first round of air strikes, the return plane brought back a large amount of aerial film, and the squadron captains also made detailed records of the battlefield situation, which were important references for formulating follow-up action plans.

"According to the Azores garrison troops, there were eight aircraft carriers in the early stages of the enemy, one was sunk, and another six were injured one after another. We found five enemy aircraft carriers during the attack, which severely damaged two of them. I just went to the darkroom to watch film. The possibility of their combat effectiveness in a short period of time is relatively small. In other words, we will focus on attacking the remaining three aircraft carriers, one of the York City class of the US Navy and two of the British Navy's Glory class."

The aviation combat commander of the Ulster was Major Derek, who had just turned forty. The energetic officer had neatly 28-haired hair, and was meticulously dressed. Behind him was a blackboard with bulkheads, which marked the distribution of the enemy fleet with chalk. The three aircraft carriers were circled separately.

"The two Glory-class aircraft carriers have a similar appearance to our Zeppelin class. They are characterized by their very fast speed and strong self-defense firepower. It is difficult for torpedo aircraft to pose a threat to them. Therefore, our plan is to use torpedo aircraft to distract them. Captain Brennan led a team of dive bombers to attack the north, and Captain O'Brien led another team to attack the south. Since the enemy's aircraft carrier and escort warships are equipped with a large number of anti-aircraft guns, it is recommended that you control the drop-off height to more than 200 meters, otherwise, it will be easy to be hit by the enemy when pulling up. As for the fighter squadron, if you arrive over the enemy fleet without strong resistance from the enemy planes, and there are parked aircraft on the deck of the enemy aircraft carrier, you are allowed to strafuse at low altitudes. When pulling up, be careful to avoid the enemy's dense firepower..."

The combat deployment was in progress, and the figure of Captain Colonel Coleman suddenly appeared at the door of the conference room, and the pilots stood up together.

The Colonel walked to the blackboard: "Gentlemen, your battles are excellent, and all Ireland will be proud of you. In a moment, you will embark on a new journey. Don't worry or be proud. Just remember that you are elite soldiers of the Royal Irish Navy and the sea eagle that His Majesty the King has high hopes for."

The pilots responded in unison: "Seahawks are invincible!"

Colonel Coleman saluted everyone with a solemn expression, and then signaled Major Derek to continue combat deployment. He did not leave, so he found an empty chair near the door and sat down to listen.

Derek cleared his throat: "Gentlemen, the battlefield is full of possibilities. Although we judge that the enemy's aviation forces have suffered heavy blows, we must still be prepared to encounter strong obstacles. If when you approach the enemy fleet and find a large number of enemy aircraft ahead, fighter jets should not charge blindly. The German Navy's Henkel fighter opportunity is at the forefront. The first task of the ir-30t is to protect the bomber formation, so your flight altitude is only two or three hundred meters higher than the bomber formation. If an enemy aircraft dives from the height of the clouds, do not avoid it and fight decisively..."

In order to allow the pilots to deal with various situations calmly and keep pace with German friendly forces as much as possible, Derek made very detailed arrangements. When what he said was almost done, the alarm ringtone for the fighter jets to take off urgently was sounded in the cabin, which meant that the third batch of carrier-based aircraft was about to set off.

"You have about half an hour to rest, go to the restaurant to eat something to replenish your energy, and relax your mood appropriately. Disband now!"

After the pilots stood up again, Major Derek followed Colonel Coleman toward the bridge. When they were in the open-minded command room, an ir-30t with a sub-fuel tank took off from the flight deck, and in the standby area at the stern of the ship, a carrier-based aircraft that had already started were rotating the propellers quickly.

"A quarter of an hour ago, we received a telegram from the Azores Garage Command. The latest aerial reconnaissance on Texel showed that the enemy had opened five battlefield airports on the island and deployed about 100 combat aircraft. The garrison command reminded us to be alert to these enemy aircraft, and I was worried about it more than that. The enemy aircraft had launched an air strike on us, although it was not successful, at least to explore our strength. If the enemy commander was sure that we had only five battleships, he should have dispatched the main fleet to come at full speed, fight a fleet artillery battle with us or force us to temporarily evacuate the Azores waters. In this way, whether our next air strike will continue to attack the enemy's aircraft carrier formation or block the enemy's battle fleet, I think it is a matter that needs to be carefully considered."

Major Derek was a smart man who knew it right away. He nodded in agreement and asked, "But you didn't interrupt me in the conference room just now to make the deployment as planned."

"I reported my advice to General Setvik, and he must discuss with the German Navy General Schermitt and General Beinke, and before they came to the conclusion, all we could do was prepare as planned. If they insisted that eliminating the enemy aircraft carrier was the primary task, we could only do it, and there was no other way."
Chapter completed!