At 5:55 a.m., the sky finally began to brighten, and the belly of the fish appeared white. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The air battle in Sicily has also been temporarily stopped, and many wrecks of Japanese kamikaze planes, as well as German planes and British and American planes can be seen all over Sicily.

The wreckage of these aircraft, in addition to the Zero fighter, also included the very **-47 Thunderbolt, P-38 Lightning, Hurricane, and P-51 Mustang fighters, as well as the German Ta-152 fighter, as well as the wreckage of the B-17, and B-26 bombers.

The wreckage of the planes was still billowing smoke, and there were many German soldiers, searching for pilots who had not yet died.

Once they saw them, the Germans would arrest or kill them, and of course rescue them if they were pilots on their own side.

At this time, the British and American fleets had also stopped shelling, and bomber groups had also stopped bombing; The fighter group has also been evacuated back to the island of Pantelleria, where casualties are counted, replenished, and treated and rested.

As for Montgomery and Patton's troops, they all successfully completed the landing operation, and also captured the beachhead of the Italian army.

Of course, these beachheads were actually given up by the Germans on their own initiative, and the British and American troops did not know about this, and thought that they had taken them after fierce fighting; So when they had seized the beachheads, they cheered with joy and were having breakfast.

Thinking that after a night of fighting, they were really physically exhausted, especially those British and American soldiers who carried out landing operations with heavy equipment, they were even more tired and did not want to move.

For them they drank some water, and then lay down on the ground and rested, for they did not even have the strength to eat breakfast, and they did not have the appetite to eat.

Seeing this, Montgomery and Barton also had a lot of headaches, so in the end, they could only let the exhausted soldiers rest first, and then let them move forward to fight.

As for the periphery of the guard, it was given to those reserves that were not engaged in battle, and to those paratroopers who had successfully landed in the air.

Of course, the British and American fleets still sent 204, 210, and 228 squadrons to patrol bombers with Schott S.25 Sunderland seaplanes, and cooperate with the escort fleet of "Liberator" and "Bastion" aircraft from Malta to reconnoiter the German submarine fleet.

Because since the Battle of Sicily, the British and American air forces had not yet encountered the German submarine forces, and in their eyes, the German army had the most submarines, so they were worried that after the air battle and the beachhead grabbing battle, the Germans would send a large number of submarine forces to attack their fleet.

So one of the most powerful and widely used seaplanes of World War II, the Schott S.25 Sunderland Seaplane Patrol Bomber Fleet, was sent out to patrol.

The SCHOTT S.25 Sunderland was a British seaplane patrol bomber, one of the most famous aircraft of the British Royal Air Force, and it was also deployed in the Battle of the Atlantic to deal with the U-boats of the Germans to protect the convoys.

It has a reliable power plant, a rugged airframe structure, a strong attack firearm, and four Pegasus-18 air-cooled piston engines on one wing.

Moreover, there is a 7.7 mm combined turret in the nose, the back of the fuselage, and the tail of the fuselage, and the "Sunderland" submarine attack weapons also have 112 kg or 225 kg bombs, and depth charges, which are moved from the fuselage along the rails to the wing roots before being used, but the aircraft is not equipped with wheel landing gear.

However, the cabin of this type of aircraft is divided into two decks, with a wheelhouse, a lounge, a workshop, and sleepers, an officer's canteen, and a galley and toilet.

The aircraft is also equipped with an ASV search radar and is capable of descending to the surface at any time and has a fourteen-hour patrol capability.

By 1943, this kind of "Sunderland" seaplane could still carry out round-trip submarine search patrols in an area of 960 kilometers offshore, or attack operations for more than two hours.

Of course, there is a big gap between this type of submarine search aircraft and the P-8A "Poseidon" reconnaissance plane of the modern US military.

But even so, it was still the most advanced and most famous seaplane patrol bomber of the British army during World War II.

But Hewitt was not compromised when he learned that the Germans still had an aircraft carrier fleet and were engaged in a fierce battle with the fleet led by Rear Admiral Theobald.

He not only sent a large number of OS2U Kingfisher water reconnaissance planes to take off and conduct reconnaissance using catapults on warships; Because the main use of the "Kingfisher" is reconnaissance, anti-submarine patrol, sea and air search and rescue, dive bombing and gun position positioning.

After dispatching the OS2U Kingfisher water reconnaissance plane, he was ready to call Eisenhower or Alexander and others immediately to inquire about further response strategies.

"The Germans really have an aircraft carrier fleet, what is their strength? How many ships are there, and aircraft carriers, and what are their types? Compared with our aircraft carriers and ships, who is stronger and who is weak? ”

As soon as he called Eisenhower, Hewitt asked anxiously.

"According to the battle report from Rear Admiral Theobald, there will probably be more than 40 ships, including aircraft carriers! And there are also a small number of submarine forces, escorting! Of course, there were 8 oil tankers and transport ships combined, because they had just finished a secret deal with the Japanese army; As for what was traded, now we only know that it is some weapons and equipment, but the detailed situation still needs to be investigated in-depth by our spies! ”

"But the battleships of the German aircraft carriers, and the cruisers, as well as the destroyers, which are now engaged in naval battles with Rear Admiral Theobald, are not weak at all! In particular, I can't believe the battleship when it comes out, it's like a dream, it's not real at all! ”

"Because the Germans actually had the battleship Tirpitz and 6 Bismarck-class battleships! How can this be, didn't our intelligence system and the British army say that the German army had only one battleship of each high-level battleship? Why are there 12 ships all of a sudden, 6 of each! ”

Hearing this, Eisenhower was immediately depressed and worried.

"What! When did the German battleships become so strong! Impossible! Didn't their Bismarck-class battleships sink by us? And wasn't the battleship Tirpitz damaged by our air force and brought into the factory for repairs? Why did so many ships suddenly appear now, is it that our intelligence is wrong! ”

Hearing such an astonishing and unexpected battle situation, Hewitt's eyes widened instantly, his mouth opened wide, and he shouted in disbelief.

"It must be that our intelligence system is wrong, and now the aircraft carrier fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Theobald is not in a good situation at all, and is being besieged by the new German carrier-based aircraft, and these battleships with strong combat effectiveness, as well as some other advanced destroyers and cruisers!"

"For the safety of Rear Admiral Theobald's aircraft carrier fleet, I intend to give an order for them to retreat immediately! Otherwise, I'm afraid they'll be annihilated by the German carrier fleet! ”

Eisenhower suddenly felt a deep sense of weariness and said in a low mood.

"Hmmm! That's all they can do, or they're really in a terrible situation! ”

After calming down his emotions, Hewitt also nodded helplessly in agreement.

"By the way, General Hewitt, you are also careful of some German submarine forces, and whether they will have another aircraft carrier fleet, I always feel that something unexpected will happen soon!"

"Now I am really suffering from Hitler's hidden and scheming fascist demon! If it hadn't been for the launch of this Sicilian campaign, I'm afraid I would never have dreamed that Hitler would still have such a deep aircraft carrier fleet, and the aviation units that have always been equipped with new fighters, and even the Japanese suicide pilots have been exchanged here, desperately fighting with us! ”

"Hitler! Hitler! I really underestimated his cunning and advanced weaponry! ”

In the end, Eisenhower sighed deeply.

"Yes! I also miscalculated Hitler's strength, and the power of his advanced weaponry, and the number of types! ”

Hewitt also sighed deeply about Eisenhower's frustration.

"Don't worry! I will definitely do a good job of reconnoitring the German army's every move in Sicily and the Mediterranean, and if there is any unexpected situation or battle situation, I will report to you immediately, and act at the opportunity, and I will never give the Germans another surprise attack on us! ”

After a sigh, Hewitt replied in a firm tone.

"Well, the safety of the fleet and army forces of Sicily depends on you, Admiral Hewitt!"

Eisenhower was comforted.

"Yes! Commander! ”

Hewitt nodded solemnly in agreement.

Then he hung up the phone and gave orders to send the O-62, O-58, SC "Sea Hawk", P2V, L-4 "Grasshopper", and British Mosquito reconnaissance planes to conduct reconnaissance.

At the same time, they were also equipped with P-47 Thunderbolt fighters and P-38 Lightning fighter groups to escort them.

At this time, Dönitz's aircraft carrier fleet also sent a small number of BV-141, Fw-189, and Ar-196 water reconnaissance planes to the waters around Sicily to carry out reconnaissance missions.