"The target is only 70 nautical miles away from us! And the opponent is seriously injured. The speed is not expected to exceed 15 knots!" Colonel Blanc muttered to himself. The record of destroying an auxiliary cruiser of more than 10,000 tons is tempting. This result is in his

It seems spit

It was within reach, but behind him, a huge fleet of up to 24 transport ships was sailing north. The total tonnage of these ships reached 210,000 tons! They were carrying food, raw materials, weapons and ammunition that were urgently needed on the European battlefield. This

Make it difficult for him to make a choice.

"Except for submarines and camouflaged assault ships, the Germans do not have any armed forces in this area. Even if the Juno leaves, the fleet is still safe. It is only 10 a.m. now, and if we conduct reconnaissance by seaplane, it will be very fast

You can determine the opponent's position

Position it, and then pursue it at full speed. The battle can be over in up to 3 hours. The location of this raiding ship is in our northeast direction. If the Juno follows a zigzag line, it can quickly return to the fleet.

"The deputy captain on the side was obviously a little tempted!

"Let's go back quickly." In the end, Colonel Blanc decided that the Juno would go north to destroy the large camouflaged assault ship. With the departure of the Juno, the TP35 transport fleet lost the most reliable means of aerial reconnaissance. This area

There was not only the Juno, a 10,000-ton warship, in the sea area. Shortly after the Juno left, Battle Group B commanded by Colonel Hoffman finally appeared in tp

To the northwest of TP35, Fleet B is composed of the aviation cruiser Nuremberg and the heavy cruiser Hamburg. They learned the route and composition of TP35 from the telegram. The 24 transport ships have a total transportation tonnage of 210,000 tons. This is definitely a feast.

, and there is also an American light cruiser among them! This feast is rich and does not exceed the attack limit of Fleet B. It is very delicious!

In order to ensure the firepower density of the attack, Fleet B did not use its precious aviation capabilities at long distances. Instead, it decided to launch an attack at the naval gun attack range. The opponent's fleet's sailing speed was only 10 knots. There was no problem of losing track.

At a distance of 30 kilometers, the heavy cruiser Hamburg will be responsible for attacking the transport ship at close range

, and Nuremberg is responsible for releasing 12 aircraft carrying 250kg bombs to assist the attack. The reconnaissance and tracking tasks are carried out by Hamburg's seaplanes. The four seaplanes use the cover of clouds to continuously track the target, while Nuremberg

The aviation force of the USS is preparing for the attack. The 170-meter-long flight

There are 4 rows of bf109tf fighter jets neatly arranged on the deck. (The original deck length was 160 meters. Later, the German Navy felt that the flight deck length was not enough, so it added another 10 meters during modification.) Although the bf109 fighter jets are famous for their short legs, but in

Launch an attack no more than 50 kilometers away from the target.

Even if it carries bombs, there will never be a problem of insufficient range! Fleet B, under the command of Colonel Hoffman, is slowly approaching its prey like a lion ready to go. And at this moment, Fleet B’s radio

The monitor received a clear telegram from the Grain God, and then Hoffman learned that there was a friendly ship not far away from him!

What is unexpected is that during the last reconnaissance before the attack, the USS Juneau, which was focused on by Colonel Hoffman, actually disappeared! It was not in the TP35 transport fleet! After hearing the news, Colonel Hoffman

A trace of disappointment appeared on his face. If he missed this goal, his victory would be

But some discounts must be made. You must know that 8 of the 12 BF109TF aircraft on the Nuremberg and the 9 240mm heavy guns on the Hamburg were prepared for this light cruiser! However, the departure of the Juno is not without benefits.

There is no one in the tp35 fleet that can take the stage!

"Speed ​​is 25 knots. The distance to the target is 35 kilometers. The battle is expected to take place in half an hour!" At this time, Fleet B made final preparations for the battle. The BF109 fighter jet began to enter the taxiing position, and the folded wings opened. Then followed by

The huge horsepower DB605 engine roared, the compact fighter jet began to accelerate with heavy bombs, and the battleship began to fly the aircraft against the wind. At this time, the synthetic armor

The wind was as high as about 30 knots. The aircraft sank slightly after leaving the deck, and then the strong buoyancy dragged the aircraft into the sky. In less than 10 minutes, all 12 fighter jets took off. They lined up in three formations.

The 4-plane formation began to fly towards the target! After releasing the fighter jets, the Nuremberg also began to rush forward with the Hamburg. They will bury this transport fleet with naval guns and aircraft!

The first thing that discovered the German attack was the destroyer dd47, which was an improved version of a flat-panel destroyer built by the Americans shortly after the end of World War I. The armament on the ship was already slightly backward, and it was a destroyer specially used for anti-submarine warfare. If

In terms of anti-aircraft firepower, there are only a few 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns and 50mm machine guns, which are reasonably usable. As for the ones in front of the deck,

The 127mm cannon was useless because the rotation speed was too slow and the pitch angle was not enough. The sparse anti-aircraft guns fired sparse barrages. Such a level of firepower, not to mention covering the transport ships next to them, even made it difficult to defend themselves. And Germany was struggling to defend itself.

The human aircraft didn't even pay attention to these ancient frigates, but rushed directly to the merchant ship in the middle of the fleet!

The BF109 aircraft is not an excellent carrier-based attack aircraft. The too small body and weight make it somewhat unresponsive after carrying a 250kg bomb. The too small range makes it perform poorly. But it doesn't matter, at close range

None of these disadvantages apply when attacking undefended transports.

Question, the pilot can slowly fly near the merchant ship, and then choose a good angle to carry out dive bombing! A BF109 fighter even dropped a bomb at a height of 50 meters from the top of the merchant ship's mast. The 250kg high-explosive bomb carried a huge kinetic energy spur.

To this poor merchant ship.

The hard warhead tore open the unprotected deck, penetrated several decks, and finally exploded near the bottom of the ship! The explosion of more than 100 kilograms of high explosives inside the hull was absolutely fatal to civilian ships! The explosion produced

The shock wave carried a large amount of shrapnel across the entire cabin, and the huge impact

The impact directly tore the surrounding items into pieces, and a large hole was punched in the bottom of the ship. Seawater poured into the hull without any hindrance. The debris flying to the surroundings directly destroyed the watertight structure of the hull, sinking an undefended ship.

A 10,000-ton civilian merchant ship. A well-placed hit from a 250kg bomb is enough!

In just a few minutes, the unlucky merchant ship was in an uncontrollable state due to flooding. In less than ten minutes, the merchant ship had a serious heel! When the German planes had not dispersed, the transport ship

The ship has sunk to the bottom of the sea, leaving only some garbage and surviving crew members on the surface! There is definitely more than one unlucky ship in this wave of attacks! Although the aircraft model is not suitable for bombing, under the influence of the German Navy after years of training

In the hands of elite aviation forces, and attacking defenseless slow-moving targets, 12 aircraft achieved excellent results with 6 direct hits and 2 near-misses! 7 transport ships were sunk, and another one was still lingering on the sea.

!For a time, the entire sea was covered with wreckage and crew members who fell into the water and called for help. The scene was extremely miserable, but in less than half an hour, the Allied Powers lost 8 merchant ships with a total transportation tonnage of 90,000!

"Leave an auxiliary cruiser to rescue those who fell into the water! All other ships disbanded the formation and dispersed!" The American officer who took over Bronk's command issued the order to disband the formation. Although he did not know the size of the opponent's attacking force, he was able to photograph a squadron of aircraft.

At least it is an aviation cruiser! This level has exceeded the resistance of the TP35 transport fleet. After the order was given, all the merchant ships ran away in all directions like wild horses.

, but it is a pity that the Germans did not give up the target just like that. Even though the BF109 fighter jets had dropped their bombs, they still hovered over the target, diving from time to time to attack the merchant ships with cannons and machine guns. Fiery snakes rolled on the deck surface.

The wheelhouse and bridge were riddled with holes! A trace of blood could be seen between the broken partitions and glass. In the end, individual merchant ships could not bear the huge pressure and raised the white chessboard, shut down the power and declared surrender!

While the Sea Eagle of the Second Reich was still hovering in the sky, two cruisers rushed to the scene to participate in this hunting feast! The destroyer dd78 was the first to spot the two German cruisers that appeared in the field of view. But before it could wait,

He sent out the information, and the heavy guns of the two cruisers had already let out terrifying roars! The Hamburg was the first to launch a counterattack against one of the cruisers.

The evacuating merchant ship was included in the eyepiece of the combined rangefinder, and the distance between the two sides was quickly calculated. At the same time, after adding the navigation data of both sides, it was sent to the fire control mechanical computer for calculation. The calculation was

The data was sent to each turret through the communication line, and the three triple turrets quickly pointed at the target. One minute later, the first and a half salvo was fired!

The quality of German naval officers in the early days of the war was very high. After several years of training, these imperial elites had almost no chance of letting their opponents run away when attacking slow warships. At a distance of 20 kilometers, the Hamburg's second round

The target was caught in a half salvo, and the third round of half salvo resulted in a near-miss. A 240kg shell landed in the water less than 10 meters away from the target ship, and the huge explosion directly

A large hole was torn open in the hull below the waterline! And a shell fired from the fifth round accurately hit the rear of the target ship's hull. The shell was shot diagonally into the hull and exploded in the cabin above the drive shaft!

The violent explosion directly destroyed the ship's power system, and two propellers were completely destroyed. In just 5 minutes, the fate of this merchant ship was determined, although it could still survive on the sea.

Facing two warships with a full load displacement of 20,000 tons, a few old destroyers were just rabbits trembling in front of elephants! But even so, the American cowboys still bravely rushed forward, but the opponent was too powerful.

Old destroyers, these destroyers can’t even reach a speed of 32 knots! Light battleships are the most

The big advantage cannot be maintained. The outcome of this duel has been decided before it begins. In order to prevent the opponent from releasing smoke screens to block the line of sight, the Hamburg released several seaplanes to assist in the observation before the attack. The smoke screens can block the frontal optical observation.

, but it doesn’t have a good effect when faced with a plane flying above your head.

The desperate charge launched by the four destroyers left the first drop of blood at the mid-range. Originally, the Germans did not take these small boats in their eyes. If the other side chose to take advantage of them, the Germans might actually let them go.

Yima. These cheap destroyers are not as valuable as 10,000-ton transport ships! But when these high-speed assassins are armed with weapons,

When the blade rushed up, it really annoyed the Germans. All the artillery quickly pointed at the American destroyer approaching at high speed. At a position of 15 kilometers, the Hamburg fired the first round of salvo, and huge fireballs connected in front of the artillery.

The shells roared towards the target, exploding water columns tens of meters high around the destroyer!

Soon, a destroyer was cut off half of its chimney by a 128mm shell, and thick smoke poured into the interior of the hull. From a distance, it looked like it was on fire. In less than a minute, another 240mm heavy cannon fired.

The shell hit the stern of the destroyer. There were still a large number of depth charges on the stern that had not been thrown into the sea! The shell exploded

The explosion caused by the explosion directly tore the tail of the poor destroyer from the hull, and threw it into the air more than ten meters, and then fell heavily, turning it into a pile of fragments under the violent impact! As the distance approached

, the second victim was also seriously injured by the Nuremberg's secondary battery, and the destroyer with damaged steering gear could only spin around on the sea.

Under the tragic losses, the Americans also hesitated. The third destroyer fired a torpedo at a distance of 7 kilometers and immediately turned around. The torpedo fired at this distance had almost no accuracy. Only a few white lines running through the sea were visible.

It quickly passed from 701 to 120 meters away from the hull, posing no threat to the German cruiser in action! No.

But even so, the destroyer could not escape the fate of destruction. Just as it was completing its turn, a 100kg bomb dropped by a seaplane hit the root of the chimney, and the violent explosion directly blew the boiler below the deck into pieces.

Debris! A white mist mixed with black smoke quickly spread from the hull, and the destroyer slowly stopped.

The overall situation of the battle has been decided now. The two German cruisers can attack all the fleeing transport ships without any hindrance. The Nuremberg even has time to release the second wave of BF109 fighters and JU90 fighters in the hangar preparation ship.

A mixed fleet of bombers, the second wave of 8 aircraft carrying bombs began to chase the targets that the heavy cruisers could not take care of! The roar of artillery fire and the scream of aircraft lasted on this battlefield for more than an hour! When the battle was over,

The TP35 transport fleet has been removed from the U.S. transport fleet! 15 of the 24 transport ships were destroyed, and another 4 were captured. Except for 5 that escaped by chance, it can be said that the entire army was wiped out, carrying 210,000 tons.

Tonnage loss 1

80,000 tons! Tens of thousands of tons of supplies, ammunition, raw materials and even arms in these merchant ships sank into the dark depths of the ocean with the demise of the transport ships. The first round of attacks by the German surface attack fleet destroyed the transportation of the Allied Powers.

There’s blood dripping online!
Chapter completed!