"The eight fortresses that cost 1.4 billion Empire Mark, and the 45,000 well-equipped Allied soldiers were Germans. This so-called unsinkable island only lasted for three days in front of the enemy...three days! Even if the gods descended to earth, what would they do in such a short time?"

In the commander's suite of the German High Seas Fleet flagship "Germany", Admiral Bainke smoked and muttered to himself. On the small dining table in front of him were delicious sirloin steak, bacon and asparagus rolls, onion toast and mushroom soup, but whether it was the tender steak, the emerald green asparagus or the fragrant soup, it could not arouse his appetite at all. The fall of Hero Port made the fleet commander bear a lot of pressure because

When the Allied defenders there were in extreme dilemma, his fleet "wandered" on the sea more than 100 nautical miles apart. In ordinary people's eyes, the US and British fleets suffered heavy losses the day before yesterday. The carrier-based aircraft of the Allied fleet had already taken the advantage. At night, three Markensen-class battlecruisers and more than 20 light ships were added, and their strength was enhanced. If they could go north to reinforce Texel Island in time and help the Allied team defend Hero Port, the situation would inevitably be greatly improved.

Bainke was not afraid to fight, nor was he just to preserve the strength of the fleet. He naturally had his own difficulties in doing so. On the one hand, although the US and British fleets were depleted, their strength was still above the Allied fleet he led. Fully leveraging the combat effectiveness of carrier-based aircraft was the best way to defeat the strong by using the weak. However, the weather at sea suddenly changed, and the US and British fleet took the opportunity to escape into the rain clouds, which made the Bainke fleet was wasted a precious day in a dilemma. On the other hand, even when the city of Hero Harbor fell, it would be no problem to grit the teeth and hold on for another three or two days with the defensive facilities and material reserves of the two fortress groups "Berlin" and "Lubeck". Who could have expected that the German team, which was famous for its steel will lose their fighting spirit under the deterrence of artillery fire from US and British warships?

Is it the fortifications on Texel Island that are exaggerated or the German soldiers who have lost their Prussian spirit in the past, Bernke has no right to make a judgment, nor can he express his heart as he pleases. He can only lock himself in the room and complain to himself as he is now.

As night fell, the carrier-based aircraft of the Allied fleet gradually stopped their activities. Losing this advantage, Bainke had to re-adopt a cautious strategy, that is, to lead the fleet to temporarily evacuate the Azorean Sea. They will soon meet with another squadron coming from Europe. The joining of two Bavarian-class battleships will further narrow the gap between the main fleets of the two sides. However, the change of hands on Texel has made the situation of the Battle of Azores lean towards the opponent. Bainke's road to turning the tables has become extremely difficult, and there is a major premise that he cannot decide, that is, whether the German top leaders will continue to trust themselves.

Bainke had no confidence in this.

At this moment, it rained heavily on Texel Island, after three days of bloody battle. More than 20,000 Allied soldiers who surrendered to the US and British troops were temporarily placed in the wilderness north of Heroes. There were not enough camps, nor enough food and medicine. Although it was midsummer, the feeling of soaking in mud and water all night was also awful. The new owner of Texel Island had no time to pay attention to these prisoners of war. They were racing against time to consolidate their victory fruits. Naval engineering troops and auxiliary ships were sleepless in the night to repair the shipping facilities of Heroes Port, so that transport ships waiting on the nearby sea would transport troops and combat supplies to the island.

Affected by the weather, the carrier-based radar of the US and British fleets and the land-based radar of Texel Island could not work normally. In order to prevent the Allied fleets from night attacking, the battleship detachment that made great contributions in the battle to conquer the Hero Port maintained combat alert all night and dispatched multiple light ships to patrol and guard the nearby sea. The main fleet of the US and British forces commanded by General Harrison Standley also returned to the waters of Texel Island. If the Allied fleet attacked the Hero Port at night, it would just fall into the opponent's daytime combat was not good for the US and British fleets that lacked aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft. Night combat was beneficial to the US and British fleets, which had the advantage of both the main ships and light ships.

At around 11 o'clock that night, the US and British fleets detected the radio signals of the Allied main fleet. Although they could not decipher the content of the telegram, they could calculate the approximate location of the signal source through direction finding. What made Standley and his staff regret that the radio call sign of the enemy's flagship appeared more than 200 kilometers away from Texel Island. Judging from the opponent's previous combat methods, the idea of ​​seeking victory in a stable manner was relatively obvious. Since the opponent did not dare to fight with him at night, the rain did not diminish at this time, the sea was windy and waves, and the light cruisers and destroyers with relatively small tonnage were very bumpy. Several destroyers had even been damaged in the wind and waves, Standley ordered some light ships to enter the port to shelter the wind.

After midnight, the number of US and British light ships that were still performing alert patrol missions on the sea near Texel Island was reduced to 17. The visual observation of the crew alone was not enough to form a complete maritime warning circle. The German submarine troops, which had previously performed mediocrely seized this opportunity. Three U-boats successfully slipped through the cordon of the US and British fleet. They were familiar with avoiding the minefield and approaching the Hero Port. They attacked the US and British ships parked in the harbor less than 500 meters away, severely hitting the British battleship "Warrior" on the spot, sinking the US heavy cruiser "Chicago", the troop transport ship "Philadelphia" and two 10,000-ton cargo ships, and then successfully escaped with the help of night cover.

Just over two hours after the German submarines successfully attacked Hero Port, three old-fashioned battle patrols of the German Atlantic Squadron also showed sharp fangs in the rainy night. They targeted the traces of a US-British ship more than 500 kilometers northwest of the Azores. After finding out the other side's escort forces, Lütjens led his battle patrol formation to attack accurately. In less than one, they completely defeated the US-British escort fleet composed of two cruisers and seven destroyers, and then they had little power to fight back.

British ships started killing. By dawn, 22 troop transport ships, supply ships and cargo ships with a total registered tonnage of 170,000 tons had been sunk. For the United States, which had very strong shipping power, the losses of these no-load ships could be compensated soon, but the successful night attack of the German fleet gave them a hard blow on the political and psychological level. Next, the US and British fleets would have to draw large ships to protect the maritime traffic lines under the delicate naval battle situation.

The outstanding performance of the guerrilla formation and submarine force to which the Atlantic Squadron belonged has allowed people to re-see the German Navy's edge. Unfortunately, the blade was unsheathed too late and could not cover up the mediocrity of the German main warships in the Battle of Azores. Fortunately, the German royal family and military leaders did not deny Bernke's combat capabilities. They gave the commander a second chance to win a decisive naval battle before the US and British troops gained a foothold.

Under the leadership of the Fleet Chief of Staff Lars, the German staff officers formulated two optional combat plans overnight, one was to face the US and British fleets head-on, with the fleet aviation playing the auxiliary role, the other, the fleet aviation serving as the main force of combat, and the main warship playing the role of bait.

On this heavy rainy night, senior officers of the US and British fleet also conducted a comprehensive analysis of the battlefield situation, and then summarized and inferred two feasible combat directions, one was to take the initiative to show off, and the other was to use defense instead of attack. Between these two very different strategies, the British tended to take the initiative to show off in order to solve the opponent cleanly and neatly, while most American generals chose a strategy that seemed to be contrary to their personality, that is, to rely on Texel Island for defense operations. The differences between the two did not cause too much trouble to the joint combat of the US and British fleets. After Standley made a clear decision, both US and British officials must obey unconditionally.

In the early morning of May 29, the sun was shining and the wind was light, which was very suitable for aviation flight. After two days of reconnaissance and preparation, the Allied Fleet dispatched 5 carrier-based aircraft, and together with 177 German land-based aircraft taken off from Floris, Pico and San Miguel, they carried out air strikes on combat aircraft and naval ships deployed by the US and British troops on Texel Island. On the battlefield, the US and British officers and soldiers were always vigilant, and their radars also discovered the incoming enemy aircraft group as early as possible. More than 100 fighter jets deployed at field airports in various places quickly took off.

Fighting, all American and British ships anchored in Praeda Victoria Harbor and Hero Harbor were on guard, and all ground air defense forces were ready for battle as soon as possible... The American and British soldiers responded to the challenge confidently, but in the air strike that lasted for more than half an hour, the blow they encountered was much greater than expected. More than 140 combat aircraft were destroyed on the ground, three destroyers and seven non-combat ships were sunk, and another 14 ships were injured. On May 22, the bad luck that shrouded the Allied troops stationed fell on the US and British troops.

In the next eight hours, the Allies organized two waves of large-scale air strikes. Although the US and British troops occupying Texel Island had properly responded, in just two or three days, they neither had time to build a safe and hidden underground hangar nor were they enough to rebuild the ground air defense system of the airport and port. Under the fierce enemy bombings one after another, the land-based aviation troops that had finally transported to the island were severely injured. The US and British aircraft carrier formations that still had combat capabilities avoided fighting to preserve their strength... Because their own air forces could not guarantee air supremacy, the US and British fleet had to suspend daytime operations to transport troops and equipment to Texel Island, and instead covered ships into two ports at night. The transportation speed was severely reduced, and non-combat losses suddenly increased.
Chapter completed!