Professional things are left to professional people, and Sumer, Portal, and Li Mei are still very efficient. A complete battle plan was quickly handed over to the command of the Combined Fleet. As for their plan, the high-ranking people from the regular navy said that it was meaningless, there was no way, the bigwigs could only describe the aviation operation with a slight understanding, and could not put forward any better suggestions. Of course, how to dispatch the fleet is up to these old guys to decide, after all, the aviation department does not understand fleet navigation and command. In this campaign, Summer and others suggested a fierce offensive as the opening point, and the target was naturally the Germans' air distribution center in central Italy. Every day, thousands of tons of various supplies are distributed to scattered field airfields.

According to the pre-plan, the Italian fleet rushed to the predetermined sea area to join the combined fleet as soon as it obtained new carrier-based aircraft, and when the other four fleets met the Italian fleet, the navies of the four countries first paid tribute to the Italian fleet and expressed their sincere admiration for their ability to fight in such a difficult environment today.

"Tomorrow morning's cloud height will be low, we can fly over the clouds, and we will start early in the morning, so when we reach our target should be their busiest. If nothing else, our attack will be a great success, * there are about 6 fighter squadrons around Leigh, 4 of which are responsible for protecting the airfield, but less than 100 fighters are not much pressure for us, if they take off, the fighters will be in charge of dealing with them, even if they stay on the ground, we are going to cuddle the grass and beat the rabbit to clean it up. We are currently about 300 nautical miles away from attacking positions, and from now until tomorrow morning, the fleet will only have to maintain a speed of more than 20 knots per hour. ”

"We plan to use about 320 bombers for this attack, and about 220 fighters to provide escort missions. We will unleash this wave of attacks at half past six in the morning, and then the fleet will move south. Rushed to the waters of Naples to support the army's operations. Then we will attack the transport hub of Chieti at the right time. After two high-intensity attacks, we can let the aircraft carrier squadrons of the following countries choose their own combat targets, of course. There was a premise that the entire fleet would have to leave three aircraft carriers responsible for the release of fighters, and the aviation cruisers were proposed to be grouped together and assigned to battleships. Provide them with air defense tasks. Summer spoke out his plan.

"If you don't have any opinions, you can prepare for action, this is our first battle, we must fight well!" Seeing that there was no objection from others, Yang Yonglin decided to carry out the plan, codenamed "Storm". Along with the issuance of the combat order, the entire fleet began to turn. It was not a secret that the combined fleet of the five powers entered the Mediterranean, and although the Spaniards did not dare to do anything to this fleet, it was still possible to send planes to track it. After some discussion. The whole fleet moved northeast to make the move to France, then turned northwest in the evening, and reached the offensive position at daybreak.

Tonight was destined to be a busy night, as the fighters tethered to the deck had already loaded up their ammunition and fuel and pushed to the take-off positions at the overtime front, while dive bombers and torpedo bombers (used as horizontal bombers) were refueling inside the carrier's hangar. A dive bomber can carry one high-explosive bomb of the 500kg class (the angle of dive is limited). Or choose to carry one 250kg submunition and two 60kg bomblets. The latter can be used to suppress anti-aircraft fire. Although torpedo bombers cannot carry out dive bombing, their large bomb load still allows them to have objective combat effectiveness, and a torpedo plane can carry three rounds of 250kg bombs for horizontal bombing. According to Sumer's estimates, this wave of attacks could throw at least about 200 tons of bombs. And considering that a large amount of highly volatile aviation fuel will be stored in the target area, at least 40% of the incendiary bombs are carried in the fleet. Enough to blow the target area to the ground! …

After the action was issued, radio silence began to be implemented throughout the fleet. Lights are also regulated. Once the attack aircraft in the hangar are ready, they are raised to the deck for positioning. The pilots, on the other hand, follow the attack orders given by the commanders at all levels in the mission room. Considering that it was the first time for everyone to conduct a joint operation, it was difficult to form a large formation, so the final decision was made on who would take off first and who would go, of course, the time gap between the various air formations should not be too large. Someone once asked what if the formation was too scattered and the opponent intercepted? And Sumer's answer was that at that time, it would only depend on the performance of the fighter unit and luck.

In order to ensure that everyone could find a place, the Italian fleet was also responsible for arranging additional guidance aircraft for friendly forces. Aircraft taking off from the land base will also arrive in the battlefield area early at night to determine whether there is a major change in the opponent's movements. Among them, the French fleet could only provide one aircraft carrier, so after some discussion, the French naval aviation was sent out of the attack operation. The excuse is also very high-sounding - to reduce the difficulty of commanding! However, this loss is nothing for a large fleet, and a few more planes for other battles will do. And the French acquiesced to this result.

Regular fleet aircraft carriers are busy. Aviation cruisers are also not idle, they will be responsible for the aviation of the regular fleet. Before the release of the aircraft carrier attack wave, 6 aviation cruisers plus 1 French aircraft carrier will release 120 fighters to support a dense air defense network for the entire fleet. These aircraft will not be able to return until the fleet is back to the open sea or the fighter jets released by the fleet carriers come to take over.

"This is probably the largest air raid we have launched on Allied ground targets since the beginning of the war, and the purpose of this air raid is not to win the war but to end it! Or just for a decent defeat! Tycho looked at the busy crowd on the deck outside the window and the planes preparing to take off, and he glanced at Lin Yongsheng next to him and said this.

"Fight the last battle and don't leave Italy with regrets." Lin Yongsheng was silent for a moment and then comforted. Half an hour later, when the rising sun dyed the sea red, with the order to take off, the aircraft carriers began to release a huge carrier-based aircraft group! The sound of the planes taking off reverberated through the fleet like a tidal wave, and the ground crew guided the planes to their take-off positions and released them into flight.

"It's a bit of a mess." Portall said as he looked at the planes hovering over the fleet waiting for formation. Each country has its own principles of release and take-off, plus the aircraft type is different, and the formation size is different. It makes the whole fleet look chaotic. However, fortunately, the direct distance between each detachment is relatively large, and there is no interference between them.

"Look at it, it will definitely be more chaotic for a while, the cruising speed of various planes is not the same, and it will definitely get farther and farther. However, fortunately, the opponent's fighter units are also relatively scattered, and the tactics are mainly hunting, lacking unified command, and we are a sneak attack, so this time there will not be much trouble. It's hard to say next time. Su Mo was more optimistic, of course, only this time. Dispersed safaris are obviously the best to suppress weak air forces, which mobilizes the initiative of pilots to the greatest extent, not to mention that the opponent is relatively weak, and there are not so many large aircraft groups for you to fight, but for strong air forces, the ace pilots of the safari may be able to achieve better personal results, but they cannot stop the bombing of the opponent. The purpose of the Air Force Volley is not just to see how many planes you shoot, but more to see whether you can hold the target you want to protect. This is obviously not possible with scattered safaris or small group operations. The Germans miscalculated at this point, of course, probably they did not expect a large-scale air attack from the other side! …

Just when Su Mo and the others were secretly complacent about their unexpected blow, just as the huge group of planes flew towards the target above the clouds, the first accident after the start of Operation Storm finally appeared! They ran into German bombers flying from the Balkans to the east! Because the sunrise in the east was relatively early, and more importantly, the other side was a land-based aircraft, and it was very difficult to take off and land at night, so the Germans took the first step, and this time, because of the problem of character, this bomber force almost collided with a huge attack aircraft formation.

"Oh God! Let's see, what's that? That's over there, a group of planes flying close to the clouds! "A German machine gunner was the first to spot a group of attack planes coming across the sea, and the Germans were really startled by their sheer size and continuous formation! (Well, too long formations are a problem with the speed of the aircraft in the past.) However, Su Mo and the others also took this into account, so the routes and directions of each group entering the attack area were different, which was used to catch up with each other and try to enter the attack area at the same time. There were not many escort planes in this German bomber force and around it, 12 twin-engine bombers and 6 fighters, looking at the huge formation of hundreds of planes in front of them, the Germans didn't even have the heart to touch it! Joke, it's good if the other party doesn't intercept him, and he can't go up to find trouble by himself? And it just so happened that the Allied fighters who carried the auxiliary fuel tanks did not want to trouble the other party in order to ensure their own range, so the two sides formed a tacit understanding, you fly yours, I fly mine, and no one should mess with anyone!

However, the German pilots still sent the news of encountering the opponent's large aircraft group to the base in the Balkans through telegram, but because the target to be attacked by the other side was not clear, and more importantly, the transmitter could not accurately locate his own position, so this telegram was of very limited significance for guiding and intercepting in addition to early warning!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the tip~~~, and the book friend smyhe783 for the monthly pass support ~~~. (To be continued)