"The enemy is neither north nor west, have you retracted east again?≧ ＞" Tovey grabbed his head in distress, unable to figure it out.

"I guess I've been hiding, but they can't run away!" Pang De was also a little annoyed, "Let the reconnaissance planes refuel. I heard that the weather will improve after 2 pm. Then, let them do a comprehensive search. If the wind is small, send more Katerina to their range."

It has to be said that the British only dispatched a reconnaissance aircraft to the north for the second time was too overwhelming: it took nearly 2 hours on the slow walrus light road, which was enough for Mashar’s aircraft carrier formation to drive north for more than 1 kilometer. In addition, the weather is bad and the overall visibility is low, the search difficulty has increased exponentially: it is not easy to catch the target on the vast sea, and it is normal to not realize it. It takes very good luck to be able to realize the target.

The staff of the Admiralty did not regret that the target was not found during the second reconnaissance, because the reconnaissance situation reported that the German fleet had exceeded 50 kilometers from each island (actually only 45 kilometers was slightly more than 45 kilometers). Even if it was discovered, it was powerless to attack. A generally accepted view is that if the German fleet wanted to successfully break into the Atlantic Ocean, it is very likely that it would choose to cross tonight, and there was still time before the bayonet was red.

"Sir, the fleet is almost at the 66th latitude north. Are you considering changing the course?" At about 2 pm, Major General Shaon, Chief of Staff of the Fleet, reminded.

Mashar subconsciously looked at the chart. After changing the course, the fleet drove north for more than 10 kilometers without knowing it. At this moment, both Iceland and Meinland Islands are about 6 kilometers away, and 5 kilometers away from the nearest Faroe Islands. "It is changed to sail to the southwest, otherwise we will not be able to cross the waterways of Iceland and Faroe Islands tonight..."

Shaoen smiled bitterly: As planned, the fleet was about to move southwest near the 64th line. Now, in order to avoid possible follow-up tracking by the British, he ran out to two more latitudes. He reminded tactfully: "It may not work to the southwest. Unless we plan to move forward as fast as possible, it will be easy to see through the waters of Iceland and the Faroe Islands tomorrow morning."

It is obviously a bad idea to always sail at the fastest level, which will bring unnecessary pressure to the fleet. Prince Eugen has a criminal record of making mistakes in the engine issues. Although the shipyard swears that all warships are in the best condition before this operation, Mashar, who has suffered, dared not believe this guarantee easily. He thought for a while and finally decided: "Then let's sail west first, and then look at the situation after night to decide whether to cross the Iceland-Faro Islands waterway or the Denmark Strait."

At 14:07, the route of the huge German North Sea Fleet was changed to 27 degrees, and the flight was reduced to 21 knots. The artillery formation commanded by Major General Bei continued to advance about a sea mile southwest of the aircraft carrier formation and 18 knots.

"The rain has stopped and the wind has become weaker. Look, the sun is coming out!" After sailing west for more than ten minutes, a staff officer looking on the bridge suddenly screamed.

"Sir, in accordance with the existing meteorological conditions, meet the requirements for carrier-based aircraft dispatch..." The aviation staff officer informed Richterhofen almost at the same time.

“How long can it last?”

"I don't know very well, it may be 3 hours or 6 hours, and it is estimated that it will not be a problem until the sun sets."

Mashar and Richthofen exchanged glances, and both agreed to start the search immediately. Ozawa's Japanese consulting team also held the same opinion and boldly suggested: "Deploy all reconnaissance aircraft to reconnaissance once, the focus is on the fan-shaped surface between 12o degrees and 0 degrees. It is recommended that two aircraft be arranged for two stages of enemy search every 1o degrees."

Mashar agrees with such a radical strategy: if nothing is found this time, he will basically not encounter the enemy today.

At 14:28, the 18 Ar-2726s in the first phase of the enemy were ejected by various ships. At the same time, Richthofen ordered two aircraft carriers to take off the B-219 fighter jets to escort the fleet. Within 20 minutes, Zeppelin took off 16 fighter jets for aircraft carrier formation escort, and Europa took off 12 fighter jets for shelling formation escort. At around 15 o'clock, the 18 He-218s in the second phase of the enemy were carried out after loading 5oo kilograms of aviation bombs.

At 15:33, it was an hour after the first batch of reconnaissance aircraft took off. Just when everyone thought that the search would still end again with "no target" the communications officer of the commander Tower suddenly screamed: "Ware 3 reported that the enemy fleet appeared."

"What?" Everyone was stunned, and then immediately rushed to the chart to check the situation. Aircraft No. 3 was responsible for the fan-shaped surface between 27o-28o degrees. A more detailed report was soon heard. The communications consultant read out loud: "There is an enemy ship formation with 2 battleships, and the level cannot be judged. 4 light aircraft carriers, 2 treaty heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 8 small warships, 16 knots, and the voyage is southeast, about 4 oo kilometers away from this fleet."

Four light aircraft carriers? Everyone was shocked and immediately realized that they were probably the enemy's escort aircraft carriers. However, if the four aircraft operated together, the number would be scary enough.

“Is the news reliable?”

"It shouldn't be wrong..."

Mashar looked at Richthofen with a gaze, although he was the supreme commander, the latter had a higher rank than him, and the aviation corps was also in his hands.

Richterhofen only thought about it for 10 seconds and made up his mind: "Prepare to attack!"

This decision is actually very risky. It takes at least 2 hours to strike targets 4 oo kilometers away. It will take at least 2 hours to fly and attack. After 2 hours, it will be dark. It will be very difficult to land. It is very likely that the plane will be destroyed or people will be killed or they can only be forced to land on the sea. But he doesn't want to let those British fleets escape, and the other party has 4 escort aircraft carriers. If he doesn't take action first, he is afraid that the enemy will face a catastrophe after he reacts.

Out of respect for the Japanese advisory group, he turned his head and asked Ozawa: "General Ozawa, look..."

"I think it can attack, as for time..." Ozawa pondered for a moment. He knew what Richterhofen was worried about. "After the plane took off, the fleet immediately advanced westward at the highest point, and could advance at least 10 kilometers within 2 hours. This can shorten their return distance and increase safety. As long as it cooperates properly, the risk is very small."

One after another, the ju-98 attack aircraft began to rise, and the ground crew refueled and mounted torpedoes, which was faster than usual training. Zeppelin could carry a total of 58 aircraft, usually in combination with 24 b-219s, 18 he-218 and 16 ju-98s. After all 18 he-218s were bombed to take over the enemy's mission, the ju-98s would be dispatched. What they escorted were 16 b-219s extracted from the fleet's cover aircraft. For safety reasons, Richterhoven simply let all the remaining b-219s take off and join the escort ranks. Anyway, their remaining fuel was enough to support until dark.

After the attack aircraft group left, another He-218, which was on the second stage of enemy recruitment mission, also sent a telegram to report information similar to aircraft No. 3, and then reported that the British aircraft carrier was taking off fighter jets and attack aircraft, reminding the fleet to prepare for air defense.

The fleet that is now present is the main force of the fleet. The fleet almost maintained a southeastern course at 16 knots from around 67 degrees north latitude. At this time, the distance from the German fleet was reduced to only more than 40 kilometers. The entire fleet was under its jurisdiction, the Mississippi and the Idaho two battleships (both New Mexico class and support the U.S. Atlantic Fleet), the Sagittarius, the Avenger, the Deceptionist, and the Hunter, the Newcastle (Southampton class), the Kenya (Fiji class) and other major warships.

The fleet commander Major General Lewis looked ugly. After the weather improved, he also sent a reconnaissance plane, but he did not get anything to the east. What he could not accept was the helplessness of the carrier-based fighter jets against the German aircraft: after seeing the German seaplane coming to reconnaissance, the European Yan fighter jets that took off from the escort aircraft carrier were immediately driven away, but the Germans were prepared and ran away, and the escape was not slow. He thought the whole thing would end here, but he didn't expect that another German aircraft flew over the fleet and swaggered around the fleet to investigate. The communications staff report intercepted a large number of telegram signals. Five European Yans surrounded him and prepared to shoot down the bold German aircraft. Unexpectedly, the other party was very fast and instantly broke free from the encirclement and fled to the location of an escort aircraft carrier deep in the fleet.

Just when everyone thought the German plane was running away in panic, the most incredible scene appeared: the enemy plane that flew faster than the European Swallow began to dive down. Before the anti-aircraft fire could be called on it, a black bomb fell from the sky. A few seconds later, the 5oo kilogram aviation bomb penetrated the deck and exploded violently. It was transformed from a merchant ship. The Sagittarius escort aircraft carrier with a displacement of 10,000 tons and the nine swordfish attack aircraft that had not yet taken off began to sink in despair half a minute later.

The he-218, which successfully completed the attack, flew away in a flash, and the degree of escape was faster than before. "This is the he-218 dive bomber!" Finally someone remembered this new dive bomber with a very fast speed. This was also the plane that threw leaflets in the UK.
Chapter completed!