Unlike the U.S. Navy, which was overwhelmed, when this information, which recorded the heavy results of the battle, was finally sent to the temporary headquarters of the German Navy's High Seas Fleet in Sicily, the command was full of jubilation, and the 180,000-ton merchant ship was sent to the bottom of the sea in less than two hours, which was unprecedented, even the wolves of Dönitz were not so ferocious, the sea was really the world of capital ships, and submarines could only do things like stealing chickens and dogs. The naval officers sent by the main fleet looked at the submarine officers with a slightly playful expression.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is just the beginning, we will achieve more and greater victories in the future, for the sake of the Empire, for the sake of the Emperor!" At this moment, Raeder and Count Luknall walked into the supplies, and Raeder's words were just right to guide the atmosphere to the highest. "Hooray! For the Empire! In the midst of the cheers, Raeder and Count Luknall did not stop but greeted everyone present and walked into the next room, as Raeder said, this was only the beginning, and the initial victory was not everything. They still have a lot of work to do.

"Tell me, something. While I'm still here. When there were only two people left in the room, Raeder poured a cup of coffee for Count Lucknal and said straightforwardly. He was very grateful to Count Luckner for cooperating with his actions, but he was busy, and in 2 days he would go to the fleet station, and then officially take over the ships assigned to him by Count Spee. He has a lot to deal with.

"The command was very pleased with this result, and even the most demanding people agreed, and His Excellency the Marshal asked me if it would be possible to have more such results before your fleet was dispatched. The army has asked us to increase the size of the sabotage fleet and increase our efforts. Count Luknar didn't talk nonsense and asked directly.

"We have only 5 aviation cruisers, 3 aviation cruisers are incorporated into the AB two broken fleets, and the other 1 is in my hands. There is also one that is ready on the slipway. Raeder smiled bitterly. The size of the aviation cruiser is still a little smaller, and there is still a certain gap from the requirements in his heart. But the aviation cruiser is, after all, a treaty product. With the ashes of the treaty annihilated, the Germans naturally invested money in more promising aircraft carriers, and not on such half-baked things.

"Now is the era of aviation, and a broken fleet without a certain amount of aviation power is no longer inflicting losses on the opponent. I'm afraid that my own safety cannot be guaranteed, and if I am not careful, a heavy cruiser may be destroyed by a jeep aircraft carrier hidden somewhere in an hour. I don't have any more aviation power in my hands. After thinking about it for a long time, Raeder couldn't resist not allocating the air cruiser in his fleet. In a future naval battle, in addition to light aircraft carriers, Raeder himself may run into the regular fleet aircraft carriers of the Entente. When the time comes, 30 fighters on one aviation cruiser will probably make a huge impact on a medium-sized aircraft carrier. True, Raeder specifically replaced all the carrier-based aircraft on that aviation cruiser with BF109TF and FW190T. Only serve as air defense missions!

As for increasing the number of aircraft carriers in the fleet, don't say that Count Spee won't give it, and even if it does, Raeder won't dare to ask for it! Because he knew that when the number of fleets in the hands of himself and Count Luknall reached a certain level, the main fleet of the Entente would be stimulated! Although the Allied fleet is now in full swing, the opponents are also in full swing, and the two sides are facing each other. Searching for each other's weaknesses, the American surface warships could not enter the arc from the Azores in the north to the Canary Islands in the south, and even the submarines suffered heavy losses, but again, the German fleet could not go too deep into the Atlantic Ocean when land-based aviation was not well prepared. To be honest, the situation of the Entente fleet was much better than that of the Allied fleet, which had very few combat missions, and now the Allied fleet was still attacking the French under the command of Count Spee.

There is a saying that there is no such thing as loyalty in the world, loyalty is only because the benefits of betrayal are not enough, and the same. There is no so-called caution in the world, when the benefits of taking risks far outweigh the risks that need to be taken, people will take risks, to paraphrase a Chinese proverb is that people die for money, birds die for food! The Entente kept an eye on the Allied fleet in the Mediterranean. Their sea-to-sea radars, long-range reconnaissance aircraft, as well as night reconnaissance aircraft, constantly monitored the German Navy at great cost! Although they could not destroy their opponents, they at least knew what their opponents were doing every day, and judging from the intercepted telegrams, the United States and Britain would even record that the number of aircraft dispatched by the German Navy on a day was a little lower than the day before! Why? Because the Americans were afraid that the German Navy, the most powerful strategic mobile force on the Allied table, would suddenly appear at some key point and take them by surprise! The strength of the two sides is almost equal, and they all lose if they are not careful! So both sides exercised restraint.

Raeder and Luknall tried to break the game on their own. However, it is risky to break the situation, it is difficult for a few aviation cruisers to change the basic situation of the two sides, although the loss of sea lines of communication is painful for the Entente, but it is far from an unbearable extent, not that 180,000 tons of materials and merchant ships are nothing, but it is difficult for only three aviation cruisers to suppress the other side's routes for a long time. The Entente had a large reserve in Europe, and it was impossible to avoid it. Then after slowly cutting out auxiliary cruisers, submarines and camouflaged supply ships with jeep carriers, the lone aviation cruiser could not continue to shine. Although it is very difficult for the Jeep aircraft carrier to take the initiative to challenge the air cruiser, the latter also has to take a certain risk if they want to destroy these iron boxes. A 500KG bomb goes down, and if the location is good, it is enough to scrap the aviation capacity of an aviation cruiser. And having lost aviation capabilities, aviation cruisers are more pitiful than heavy cruisers!

In the opinion of the Germans, if the Americans can endure it, on the one hand, slowly deplete the auxiliary forces of the opponent with the secondary main forces, and on the other hand, change and reduce the situation of sea transportation, and the situation will change for a while. And in order to avoid this from happening, Raeder took a fierce pill! 2 fleet aircraft carriers! When the real sea hegemon enters the ocean, its meaning and impact are absolutely different! He forced the Americans to divide their forces. As a general rule, the more fleets that enter the oceans, the more energy the Americans need to diverte. But in reality, there was a degree to everything, and when too many German aircraft carriers were withdrawn from the Mediterranean, the Entente must have been able to perceive the weakness of the High Seas Fleet itself! When the time comes, when the Americans think that the gains from sending their main fleet to block the Strait of Gibraltar are enough to make up for the losses, then the matter will be completely played! The High Seas Fleet was split in two, and if it wanted to go back, it had to go back from the Suez Canal on a detour to the Horn of Africa. This comes at a great cost in terms of time and risk! After all, the movement of a large aircraft carrier formation is too fast, and 500 nautical miles a day is definitely not a problem! How long does it take to get from the English Channel to the Azores? In the face of almost 2 dozen aircraft carriers, how many rounds can land-based aviation on the Azores go?

So Raeder has to grasp this degree! His fleet must not be too large, and the receiving fleet of Count Luknall should not sail out of the safety rope of the Azores-Canary Islands. Otherwise. Once the Entente launched a fierce attack, the Allied fleet, which was overly divided, would be at a disadvantage. This is a grasp of the situation and the degree! Raeder's decades of riding have taught him all too well about this! So when Count Luckner asked if he could expand the scale and outcome of the battle, Raeder thought it was impossible. Of course, he would only say such things in private, and in public he would never admit that the limit of breaking the engagement had been reached. Because there is also a political problem behind the military, and the Germans cannot make the enemy, even the allies, aware of this.

"It seems that relying solely on the strength of the German High Seas Fleet is indeed somewhat inadequate." After listening to Raeder's answer, Count Luknall was not disappointed at all, this is Raeder, a very realistic and very big-picture general. "Well, then I'll give you another piece of good news, you will have an additional fleet under your command, just yesterday. Ten hours after our war reports reached the Austrians, Field Marshal Jordi of the Austrian Navy sent a telegram agreeing that two aviation cruisers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, and four ocean-going destroyers, had joined the operation to break the diplomatic relationship, and that they were ready to go at any time! After saying that, Count Luknall looked at the other party with interest, expecting his reaction.

"Hehe, Ferdinand's sense of smell is so sharp, no! He did not have this ability, it should be said that Marshal Holdey had a unique vision. Raeder said with a smile. Holdie was definitely not improvised. Otherwise, the formation of aviation cruisers under his command would not have been ready so quickly. Haldy had a lot of ideas, but due to the limited strength of the Austro-Hungarian fleet, if the Germans did not do it, Austria-Hungary would probably be thankless. Field Marshal Haldy, who had lived through the First World War, must have known how to use the fleet. However, the emperor above him wanted to gain more benefits while at the same time taking care of the losses. Profiteering is exactly what Raeder said about Ferdinand.

But it's good to have an extra fleet, 5 aviation cruisers! I'm afraid that the Americans will not necessarily be able to get it by sending most of the light aircraft carriers, and if the two fleets converge, then 3 or 4 aviation cruisers can eat almost all targets except for the carriers of the main fleet! The battleship will also blow up to you! But now the only problem is that the two fleets of AB have gone into the depths of the ocean. The whereabouts are erratic, what should the Austro-Hungarian fleet do? Will it join up with other warships or go it alone?

With the extra troops, Raeder began to plan how to make the new chips more useful, two aviation cruisers! Raeder estimates the strength of his troops! Calculate the cost, and then do what you can to make your plan more complete. According to information provided by Count Lukner, it was Rear Admiral Leopold who commanded the Austro-Hungarian fleet in this battle. According to Raeder's plan, with the addition of this fleet, the German fleet fighting in the Atlantic had a new reserve, and Fleet A could immediately start action and seize the time to stab the other side in the transport line before the Allies could react. Then the A or B fleet quickly joined up with the Leopold fleet, ready to concentrate on hunting down the possible Allied light carriers, and if the time came, it was time to go out themselves!

On the same day, the Germans sent the codebooks and cipher machines and liaison personnel needed for the operation to the Austro-Hungarian fleet, and then Jordi personally went to the captain of the Mediterranean air cruiser and the two main forces that were about to be dispatched to carry out the practice, and shortly after the farewell of Count Lukner, under the cover of night, two Austro-Hungarian air cruisers and four destroyers left the harbor and sailed towards the Atlantic under the cover of aircraft and other ships.

In just a few dozen hours, the Atlantic theater, which had begun to boil, heated up again, not just with the addition of the Austro-Hungarian fleet, which made the number of surface warships operating in the Atlantic by the Allies skyrocket, but the Americans finally acted! The escort carrier formation, which had been hunting alone at sea, quickly converged with the nearest transport fleet and covered this vital lifeline with the escort warships. As the Germans expected, the Americans decided to draw some light aircraft carriers from the main fleet to form a hunting force to deal with the annoying air cruisers. The Americans were also hesitant about fleet formation, whether to have two ships together or one light cruiser and one light aircraft carrier, but the former's attack power was strong enough. However, it affected the size of the hunting fleet, and although the latter could increase the number of hunting teams, it may not be effective in one hit. Although this Independence-class light aircraft carrier is still modified from a light cruiser hull, and although this light cruiser is larger than the historical Independence due to the change of treaty, the carrying capacity is still about 40 aircraft. Considering the combat effectiveness of F4F and TBF, the advantage is not great.

And the Americans solved it this way, the hunting fleet is divided into two kinds, one is a formation of 2 light aircraft carriers, they can carry out hunting missions alone, and the other is a formation composed of 1 light aircraft carrier and 1 light cruiser, the task is mainly search and attrition, they do not necessarily have to attack the opponent's warships, but they can wear down the opponent through tracking and air combat. Thus, unconsciously, the confrontational situation in the Atlantic theater rose to a new level! However, in this confrontation, the Americans seemed to be a step slower, because of the distance, before the hunting group went south, the Germans' A fleet had already moved!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the reward~~~, as well as the book friend xiaoyongplay, the monthly pass support of the rat travel world ~~~. (To be continued.) )