Faced with the 37 B-219s that were rushing over, the European Swallows were unable to resist. One after another, one plane after another was sent to the sea. Only 4 TBFs lucky enough to shoot torpedoes, but they hit no hit. <10 minutes later, the battle ended, and 28 carrier-based aircraft were all annihilated by the angry B-219s, and the Germans themselves lost 3 more.

The deck of Zeppelin was in chaos, and a large number of team members were rescuing the warships. Some were extinguishing the fire, some judged the injuries of the warships, and some rescued the casualties... Mashar and other senior fleet leaders all engaged in intense rescue command. Richterhofen forced himself to calm down and continued to issue orders: "Fighters with more fuel are left in the air to continue to cover, and those with less fuel are landing to Europa to replenish supplies."

Zeppelin has fully proved itself as the core of the entire fleet in the tsunami plan. Its injuries have attracted everyone's attention. In addition, it is a flagship, and the fleet's senior management has seen all its actions.

"How is the situation?" Richterhoven asked anxiously after he made the order.

"A large pit was blown up in the middle of the deck runway, with a diameter of about 7 meters. The only thing that is thankful is that the British bomb is insufficiently powerful and does not penetrate the main armor belt below and penetrates into the hangar, otherwise the loss will be greater. In addition, the location of the shot was just near the bow lift, and the explosion caused some of the structure to be distorted. The elevator at this point has been stuck and cannot be used at present." Lieutenant Colonel William, the head of the damage management and the second deputy of the Zeppelin, reported to everyone.

"What should I do now?" Mashar was anxious. "There are two teams of attack aircraft outside, how can they land after they come back."

"We are trying to repair urgently, cutting the entire section of the damaged runway first and temporarily covering and filling it with spare steel plates. However, the elevator cannot be repaired and must be returned to the shipyard for repair, and the operation of the hangar will be restricted."

“How long does it take to repair the runway?”

"If it's fast, it's 2 hours, if it's slow, it's 3 hours, but there's no more air strikes."

"You do it immediately, be careful and restore your take-off and landing capabilities as soon as possible."

"Sir, isn't it important to damage the bow lift?" Mashar asked Richterhofen nervously.

"Theoretically, the inability to use a lift will cause major problems including the hangar and the aircraft call, but as long as it can resume normal take-off and landing, the problem is not particularly big." Richterhofen sighed, "I lost so many aircraft today. Even if the remaining spare aircraft are assembled, the hangar cannot be filled, so the dispatch efficiency will not be reduced theoretically. I will undergo a comprehensive repair when I go back. How about other warships?"

"The loss is huge. Prince Eugen and z15 have sunk and are rescuing people who fell into the water. The Schanehorst was hit by a torpedo. In addition, the original injuries can only drive up to 24 kilometers. After returning, I am afraid that I will lie in the shipyard for half a year..." Mashar shook his head and sighed, "The price I paid today is really not small."

"But after all, I've been here, and the British have suffered even greater losses..." Richterhoven's face was ferocious, "Look at it, I must sink the two battleships in the south to avenge Prince Eugen."

At about 11 o'clock, the fleet had passed 40 nautical miles from Iceland. Mashar ordered the fleet to turn southwest and prepare to break into the Atlantic Ocean as soon as possible. At this moment, good news came from the south. Under the attack of Ju-98 and He-218, two old battleships, the USS Ramiri (June-Class), and the USS Arkansas (Wyoming-class, supported by the USAAF), were sunk one after another, and two destroyers (Aggressive and Antelope, both of which belong to Class A destroyers), and the fleet lost 2 He-218, 2 Ju-98 and 1 water battle respectively. The rest of the aircraft were returning to the mothership.

After hearing this news, the atmosphere in the tower of Commander Zeppelin became lively again, and everyone's excitement was written on their faces, which meant that there was no force ahead that could stop them.

The losses of both sides of the battle were not small. Including Iceland's 6-based aircraft and E-Fleet's carrier-based aircraft, the British overall losses were close to 1oo aircraft, with a loss rate of over 75%. The German army lost 11 b-219s in air defense operations, and the losses of the remaining 1o aircraft in the two attack waves were lost. The total damage has reached 21, with a loss rate of up to one quarter. The missing and dead pilots reached 13 people (groups). They also took on an additional destroyer and a heavy cruiser (Prince Eugen). The Schánhorst and Zeppelin were severely damaged again. Fortunately, Europa was still intact and could barely provide a landing place. Otherwise, the planes in the sky would be completely turned into a pile of scrap aluminum after the fuel was exhausted.

"Did you hurt Zeppelin?" Although he was shocked by the few return planes, Fraser was still very excited after hearing the surviving pilot's confident report.

"Yes, I saw with my own eyes that there was a big pit on his deck, and it was constantly smoking... Sir, we killed at least 2 heavy cruisers and 3 destroyers. Maybe the Schonhorst is almost the same. He ate 2 torpedoes... In addition, it seems that Tilpitz also got hit by a few bombs." It is actually easy to misjudgment on the battlefield. The observation of this handsome soldier pilot is actually quite reliable.

"Where is another aircraft carrier?" Fraser asked hopefully.

"This... I didn't see clearly. I was busy avoiding a B-219 at that time. It should have been a trauma. The aircraft carrier is the key target of attack aircraft."

But this excitement failed to last long. In less than 5 minutes, the aviation staff told him that the second attack wave and search reconnaissance aircraft did not show their targets and were forced to return due to fuel. Fraser's face suddenly turned ashen. The second attack wave was transferred from the local area early this morning. The number of troops supported by the Royal Air Force reached more than 100. They arrived in Iceland at around 9 o'clock. After emergency replenishment of oil bombs, six continued to fly, including special escorts for the US B-17 heavy bombers. At this time, there were still very few p-47s.

He had high hopes for him, but now he can only waste his life. What's worse is that half an hour ago he also learned a unfortunate news: except for two destroyers who escaped, the other warships were completely destroyed. The day before yesterday, Major General Hamilton, who was fighting with him, chose to sank with the ship and die heroically!

"Report to the minister, just say..." Fraser thought for a moment and slowly told the Chief of Staff, "The Icelandic Air Force launched an air strike on the enemy fleet this morning, achieving major results, hitting two heavy cruisers and three destroyers, severely hitting the battlecruiser of the USS Schánhorst, the aircraft carrier Zeppelin, the USS Tilpitz and an unknown aircraft carrier. It shot down the enemy aircraft near frame, and our army lost nearly 70 aircraft... At present, the enemy fleet is far away from the strike range of the Icelandic 6-base aviation force, and its destination is unknown, and it is suspected to have penetrated into the Atlantic Ocean."

"What's going on with the e-Fleet?"

"That's what General Tawvey reported, it has nothing to do with us. The fleet is under his direct command." Frazier thought to himself: I was stupid and reported the destruction of the entire e-fleet!

Churchill in the prime minister's residence had two battle reports: one was from Fraser, which reported that the German fleet had severely damaged; the other was from Tovey, which reported that the entire e-fleet was destroyed due to the huge gap in strength, and Major General Hamilton died in his country.

His face turned pale. He was also a naval minister. Of course, he knew the tricks of his subordinates. He could understand the subtext in the war report at a glance: whether it was severe damage or destruction, there was only one result in interpretation. The German fleet slipped into the Atlantic Ocean after paying some price.

"He's the damn it!" he roared, his voice as if he was about to overturn the entire roof. "Now the Tilpitz can rush into the Atlantic Ocean and start a massacre."

"We have the Independence and Pennsylvania, and they will arrive soon."

"Now?" Churchill stared at Pound, panting and asked loudly, "In less than a week, the Royal Navy lost 4 battleships and 8 escort aircraft carriers. Now tell me that one battleship and one light aircraft carrier can save the whole situation. Are everyone else stupid?"

"This..." Pang De was speechless.

"Someone must be responsible for this. I need to give President Roosevelt an explanation." He stared at Pound and said word by word, "The Americans gave us three battleships, and all of them were sunk in a week, and so many American naval officers and soldiers died. The Americans borrowed our aircraft carrier and George V battleship and have been doing well and unscathed. What do you want them to think? Especially with General Jin, it is difficult to explain..."

Pound understood Churchill's implication: whether it was to give an explanation to the Americans or calm the internal anger, it was difficult for Tovey's local fleet commander to continue to maintain the position of commander of the local fleet. Now, the one who has achieved results and achieved success is General Fraser. In addition, he is the deputy commander-in-chief of the local fleet, so it is inevitable to change the general.

The phone rang, and the adjutant came in: "Preface, General Tovey resigned because he thought he had an unshirkable responsibility for command in this defensive battle, and said that if you need to pursue other issues, he would be willing to cooperate with the independent committee of investigation to carry out his work. Now that others are outside, do you need to meet him?"

The two looked at each other and couldn't speak for a long time. After a while, Churchill squeezed out a sentence: "Please come in! No! Marshal Pangde and I will go to greet him."

Pound thought as he walked: "The follow-up matters will be much easier if Tovey has an attitude, and it is probably not too embarrassing for people. He is like this to General Alexander, and General Tovey will do the same. Only Cunningham, who insists on saying that he has not made a big mistake, needs to calm down and reflect on it."

"Yuan, I must report to you..." In the Berlin Navy, Raidel's face turned red. "The fleet defeated the British Navy's interception and successfully broke into the Atlantic Ocean! In the past week, the Navy sank nearly 10,000 tons of British ships and more than 2oo aircraft, including 4 battleships, 8 escort aircraft carriers, and 8 cruisers, and suffered little losses." (To be continued.)8
Chapter completed!