"Kesselring, you should have read this telegram from Count Spee, tell me what you think." Richthofen put aside the telegram he had read, and then looked with some expectation at General Kesselring, who was sitting in front of him, a general he had personally promoted, who was only one step away from the highest glory of a soldier, but who still respected himself, which made Kesselring very satisfied.

This telegram, which was thousands of words long, illustrates the fact that the German navy needed the help of the air force, in which Count Spee admitted that it would be difficult for the Allied navy to be wounded in another decisive battle, and that it could only "weaken as much as possible" the opponent. The Allied fleet has changed its fighter fleet, and the aircraft it has replaced is the Spitfire 9 fighter that is currently the most headache for the Luftwaffe, although it is not clear how much it has been replaced, but this aircraft will certainly greatly enhance the opponent's defense capability. The attack power of carrier-based attack aircraft was already limited, and their hopes of inflicting heavy damage on the Allied fleets became very slim. So Count Spee hoped that after the two fleets had engaged, the Luftwaffe could take off from the airfields off the coast of southern France to attack the Allied fleets that were withdrawn to Britain and the French mainland. And Count Spee expressed his willingness to redeploy the long-range fighter units deployed on the islands of the East Atlantic to enhance the escort capabilities of the long-range bomber forces.

This plan is said to be quite good, and in the eyes of ordinary people, it is completely a matter of the German Navy and the opponent fighting to the death, and let the Air Force go up to pick up the leaks. The risk is not big, and the reward is quite large! There seemed to be no reason for the Luftwaffe to refuse this proposal. But in reality, it's not that simple. This is definitely not a matter of Richthofen and Count Spee's awkwardness, but the fact that there are too many aspects involved. There was a lot of disruption to previous deployments.

Attacking a battleship at high speed at sea could not be attacked by ordinary bombers, and after Richthofen himself checked the map, he found that the route of the possible retreat of the Allied fleet of the German Navy was a little far away from him. If the attack aircraft formation uses medium bombers such as JU88 or DO217, there is a problem of insufficient range, of course, if you want to say that you can make do with just one torpedo, but it is impossible to play a big role in this ammunition. So in order to ensure sufficient firepower, heavy bombers must be used, and there is no other option than the HE177!

It is difficult for ordinary griffon bombers to perform this kind of task, and it is possible to load torpedoes, but it is indeed a little difficult for a large aircraft of the HE177 to make it loault at low altitudes. In addition to individual maritime patrol aircraft in World War 2 in history. Orthodox large four-engine bombers rarely carry out lightning strikes, because it is too large and heavy, and it is less maneuverable at low altitudes. If you move a little, you may fall into the sea. And if you throw an ordinary bomb, the accuracy of horizontal bombing is really impressive, and the target that is blown up by visual inspection may not be worth the bomb and fuel money!

However, the Red Baron has such an air wing in his hands that can carry out this mission. This is the heavy bomber wing known within the Luftwaffe as the Reaper Wing, which is armed with all HE177G bombers. Externally, the Gryphon was filled with antennas on the outside, while on the inside it was partially converted into a control room for the installation of various control equipment, and it was the only special bomber unit in the Luftwaffe that was equipped with guided weapons. Moreover, this wing is also equipped with special maritime patrol aircraft, ranging from anti-air radar and anti-sea radar to electronic warfare equipment. Inside the German Navy it was called the Electronic Griffin. This aviation wing is the crown of the Luftwaffe bomber unit, the strongest combat effectiveness, and at the same time the highest cost, not only such special bombers are valuable, those long-term training pilots are also the Luftwaffe's valuable assets!

Count Spee's request for the Red Baron to take out this unique unit of the Luftwaffe made the latter a little painful, but this was only the beginning, and in order to cooperate with this operation, the Luftwaffe had to launch a series of offensives in a short period of time to weaken the Allied air force in northern France. Originally, the Luftwaffe intended to slowly wear down the opponent by boiling frogs in warm water. Let the American and British air forces leave more blood in France, but now it seems that it will not work! A heavy attack and rapid loss of blood could have caused the United States and Britain to withdraw from France as soon as possible, and the Luftwaffe would suffer some avoidable losses.

And more trouble is invisible on the battlefield, although the Germans have occupied some French airfields, but these airfields were destroyed to varying degrees before they were occupied, and now they are just making do, and it is naturally not easy to accommodate heavy bombers like HE177, and the Luftwaffe needs to take some time to redeploy front-line aviation units in order to accommodate at least two hundred HE177G bombers and at least 3 wings of DO335 fighters! Such a transfer will naturally be very troublesome.

"This time we have to support. If the Navy loses, our situation in the future will be very difficult, and to help the Navy is to help ourselves, after the end of the war in France. We're going to get ready to attack Britain! If we can solve the UK, we will win! Kesselring hesitated for a moment. As a front-line commander, he knows better how much trouble it takes to make changes to existing strategies, and what it means to invest such a force. But at the same time, as a general with a very good view of the overall situation, he also knew that in the future Battle of Britain, whether the navy could cut off the opponent's supply lines would be an important guarantee for the victory of the Battle of Britain. The Navy and Air Force are grasshoppers tied to a rope. It's time for the desperate. Neither side can afford to hesitate.

"Then so be it, you first let the 4th and 5th air armies prepare the following, let them abandon the attack on the Paris area and concentrate on attacking the French coastal air base. Then you contact the Navy, our Air Force has the Grim Reaper, and the Navy also has an aviation unit called Sea King, although the scale is smaller than ours, but it is also necessary to pull them! You will be in charge of this matter, and I will speak to Richthofen the Younger, and the whole of the South of France will listen to you. Fuel, airports and personnel are up to you. "The Red Baron is also simple, and he will never drag his feet after deciding something! Very generous decentralization.

The air force has agreed to give a blood for this operation, and the navy will naturally have to play its cards, and the seaplane unit that had secretly followed Summer in the Iran war also began to act, their purpose is to maintain contact with the Allied fleet, and use the flexible take-off and landing of seaplanes to make up for the problem of the great reduction in the efficiency of the reconnaissance aircraft at night, although it will be very difficult to face the fighter forces of the Entente, but Count Spee has also shown the courage to fight this naval battle even if he fights all his belongings. The first batch of about 75 radar-equipped seaplanes was deployed to northern Spain and parts of southern France.

"Are we going to use seeds?" Towards the end of a meeting, Count Luknall suddenly spoke to Count Spee. "Our fleet must not only defeat our opponents and clear the way for air force strikes, but also prevent the American fleet from escaping to the British mainland. We had to squeeze the Entente fleet in the direction of France. This will allow the opponent to enter the ambush circle of the Air Force. And to do this, it is necessary to replenish the aircraft immediately after a major war, so that the number of carrier-based aircraft in the fleet can be brought back to a level that can continue to fight. ”

The seed troops, as the name suggests, are the reserve units of German naval aviation. These wings were originally prepared to make up for battle damage and were ready to board ships at any time. The rapid recovery of the Raeder fleet after returning was replenished by the seed troops. But this time the situation was somewhat peculiar, because it was impossible for the German Navy to return to the port to receive the seed troops, but to let these pilots fly from land to sea in planes with a large number of auxiliary fuel tanks suspended! The straight-line distance between the two sides can reach thousands of kilometers, which can be a serious challenge for pilots and navigators. If these pilots can't find the aircraft carrier, then the final result must be that they will fall at sea, and it is really unlikely that they will go back! And the timing must also be chosen, the landing of a large fleet of aircraft will end up in the daytime, and if it is night, I am afraid that many planes will fall. If these forces were to be used, then the German Navy would have to be prepared to bear some additional losses!

"It's a way of exchanging our future for immediate victory, and I don't like this kind of physical strength, but now we have no choice!" Less than half a minute later, Count Spee decided to use the seed troops. At this point, the Germans even put the coffin on the book, and they really did it if they didn't succeed!

"We already know the approximate location of the Entente fleet, and they are still relatively conservative, about 1,500 nautical miles in a straight line from the west coast of France. In 15 hours the fleet will be replenished for the last time, and if nothing else, we may have to fight the Allied fleet in 3 days! Now I order the entire fleet to be brought to the final state of combat readiness, do you understand! Count Spee said after taking a deep breath.

Accompanied by the order of Count Spee, the entire Confederate fleet entered the final preparations, and the huge fleet began to sail in a northeasterly direction. According to the predetermined plan, the German fleet was to attack from the northwest direction of the Entente fleet, and if the Entente fleet was defeated, they would definitely withdraw to the southeast. And this direction is to enter the Bay of Biscay, and if all goes well, the remaining Entente fleet will finally fall within the strike range of the Luftwaffe and naval land-based air forces!

The huge Allied fleet relied on the reconnaissance advantage to begin a detour to the side of the Entente, and a huge formation of more than 200 warships of various types pulled out a linear array tens of kilometers long, and four aircraft carrier battle groups lined up in a line formation under the protection of a large number of cruisers and battleships. The destroyer detachments on the periphery were distributed in a wider area, and the Germans also specially selected 60 destroyers to form an anti-submarine shield in the southern part of the fleet. Cooperate with the air anti-submarine forces to suppress the submarines of the Entente.

Although the Allies tried their best to hide their plan of action, but under the strong reconnaissance forces of the Entente, Nimitz and others finally discovered the general direction of the German fleet, when the staff officers marked the trajectory of the German fleet on the chart in a few days, Nimitz and others finally discovered the intentions of the Germans, a red strange sailing around the Allied fleet, and finally the huge Allied fleet stopped at the connection line between the British mainland and the Allied fleet!

"They're going to fight us hard!" Cunningham was the first to react! The Allied fleet is like a long knife that cuts through the path of the Allied fleet's return to the mainland! According to the distance and reconnaissance capabilities of the two sides, it is impossible for the Americans to escape back unnoticed under the nose of the German fleet, as long as they want to return to England, they must meet the German fleet, even if they use the cover of the night, they cannot get out! After all, both sides are highly mobile fleets, and what kind of mobile Entente countries the other side uses cannot be determined at all! If the Allies wanted to evacuate, they would have to retreat to the coast of France, of course, there was theoretically another way, that is, all the way south, through the German Azov Sea Line, and then go around in a big circle back to the United States, but if they chose this route, they would be abandoning Britain and France. Practically impossible!

As a result, the various voices that originally existed within the fleet completely disappeared when the Allied fleet was almost desperate! There is a saying among Europeans that don't stop the fleet that wants to go home, and the British will not save their strength in order to go home at this time, to paraphrase Cunningham's words, in order to let tens of thousands of excellent sons and daughters of Great Britain go home, the British fleet is ready for the last battle! "Even if we all end up on the way home, we won't back down!" Cunningham said.

As for retreating in the direction of France, the Allied generals did not even think about it, if the Allied fleet could not repel the Allied fleet alone by attacking northward, then sailing westward, the entire fleet would face a flanking attack from the German navy and land-based air force! Most of the Allied aviation forces in France have been severely damaged, and even if they can successfully enter the French ports, then after a long war of attrition, the Allied fleet will not have the ability to go to sea to break through the naval blockade of the Allies! As a result, the world's largest tonnage fleet will probably also become the world's largest existential fleet and self-sinking fleet! Fleeing to France is simply a chronic suicide!

"We need about two more days to prepare! In two days, all the ships will be in optimal combat readiness, and the spare aircraft we have stored on the aircraft carrier will be fully assembled! If you don't succeed, you will be benevolent! Halsey's words on the side were full of excitement about the battle, although the other party was strong, but Halsey, who advocated attack, still had a strong fighting spirit, as early as before leaving, he arranged a new attack tactic, this time just using the Germans as a whetstone!

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