Africa, British Somalia, Talaju Bay.
On the calm sea, 6 huge warships are quietly moored here.
It was Raeder who led the German carrier support fleet, which included all four German aircraft carriers and two Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruisers responsible for protecting the carriers.
"Sir, all the participating aircraft have been inspected." Raeder's adjutant ran to Raeder, who was watching the scenery on the deck, and said.
"Well, refuel the plane and hang bombs, go to the deck takeoff preparation area and wait for the next order." Raeder on the Deutschland looked at the huge body of the second ship of the Deutschland-class aircraft carrier Bavaria not far away, and said lightly.
This time the fleet went out to the first actual battle of the German aircraft carrier fleet, and it was also the first time to run so far, the entire fleet set out from the Kiel military port, through the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and then from the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean, then from the Suez Canal into the Red Sea and finally from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Tadjoura Bay.
If nothing else, along the way, the ocean-going capabilities of the German aircraft carrier fleet have increased significantly.
And since the opponent was Russia, which had no air defense and air force, the entire fleet, except for the Count Zeppelin with two squadrons of fighters, the other aircraft carriers replaced the fighter squadrons in formation with dive bomber squadrons.
Four aircraft carriers, a total of 204 dive bombers plus 136 torpedo attack aircraft equipped with high-explosive bombs, can be described as covering the sky, and how to command such a large force in an orderly and efficient manner will be the biggest problem since Raeder became commander of the Navy.
"It's still 10 minutes to 10 o'clock, sir!" The adjutant once again ran to Raeder's side and reminded.
"Good!" Raeder turned and walked towards the bridge of the Deutschland.
"All aircraft carriers, according to the original plan, give priority to taking off slow torpedo attack aircraft!" Back on the bridge, Raeder began to command his vast fleet.
Under the command of Raeder, the originally quiet fleet came to life in an instant, and the planes that were quietly waiting for orders in the take-off preparation area started their engines one after another, and then began to taxied towards the take-off area on the deck.
After everything was ready, the take-off commander dressed in yellow on the deck faced the front, turned to the plane, crouched down, pointed his hand forward, and at the same time the catapult operator pressed the ejection button, and the huge torpedo attack aircraft rushed forward quickly under the drive of the catapult, spread its wings and flew into the sky, and then waited in the air for the other aircraft of the same squadron to take off and complete the formation.
Torpedo attack aircraft took to the sky one after another in the repeated movements of the takeoff commander, and soon 96 torpedo attack aircraft of the first wave of 8 aviation squadrons completed the formation in the air and flew towards their target.
"Sir, the first wave of 96 planes has already departed."
"Very well, 132 dive bombers that took off in the second wave."
...
"Hey, Keos." The pilot flying the FI-167 said to a man behind him, "You say, are the Italians really that useless?" We still need to come all the way to support them. "
"Don't look up to Italians, Bowen." Keos, who was fiddling with the newly installed horizontal bombing scope, said without raising his head, "You don't know that they fought the battle 40 years ago, it's a shame to lose home." "
"Haha." Bowen laughed loudly, "That's true, by the way, I heard that they were cleaned up very miserably some time ago, why did they suddenly have a decisive battle?" "
"It seems to be because they used poison gas." Keos said uncertainly.
"Poison gas?!" Bowen exclaimed, "Isn't that thing already on the list of absolutely prohibited weapons?" The Italians still dare to use it? "
"We were all at sea some time ago, where did we come into contact with the outside world? That's what I heard. Keos shrugged his shoulders, "But to be honest, what can't the Italians do?" You can't beat people, it's normal to use a poison gas. "
"Too." Bowen nodded, "Then again, don't hang torpedoes instead of hanging this big guy, so that I can't get used to flying planes." "
Keos listened to Bowen's words, stopped fiddling with his hands, pulled open the canopy, looked down at the plane against the wind, and then closed the cockpit again and said: "This big guy should be much more powerful than a torpedo." "
"Of course." Bowen smiled, "This guy's weight of 2200 pounds (1000KG) is not blown, this time, a building will collapse, right?" "
"Haha." Keos laughed, "Then I have to pray for the Ethiopians." "
With that, he glanced at the dense group of aircraft around him and continued: "Seriously, I have some sympathy for the Ethiopians now. "
"Alas, indeed. Our first wave of attacks had 96 2,200-pound bombs, and the Ethiopians were uncomfortable. Bowen nodded, "Why do you say the Fuhrer asked us to help Italy?" If I had to say, we should help the Ethiopians beat Italy. "
"Because Italy is our ally, although I feel embarrassed to have such an ally." Keos said helplessly.
"Oh." While the two were chatting, there was a sound of electricity in the headphones, and then the voice of the commander of the first wave came, "Gentlemen, we have reached our destination, cun, the weapons operator observes the ground target, free bomb drop!" "
"Oh, here we are." With that, Keos opened the canopy again and looked down, where countless Ethiopian soldiers were scattering below.
"God, I really don't want to throw this thing down." Keos retracted his head and then pulled on the canopy, "The people below have no ability to resist at all, and throwing this thing down will not bring us glory." "
"Alas, throw it, blame the Italians." Bowen in front shook his head, "We are just soldiers, all we have to do is carry out orders." "
"Okay." Keos sorted out his emotions, then aimed at the crowd below and pressed the bomb button, "Long live the Fuhrer!" Damn Italians! "
The 2,200-pound bomb began to freefall amid the shouts of "Long live the Führer" in Keos.
30 seconds later, the missile ushered in the most brilliant moment of its life - touchdown explosion.
The power of the 2,200-pound bomb was enormous, accompanied by a deafening explosion, a mushroom cloud rose, and then a violent shock wave.
Finally, the smoke slowly cleared, leaving only a crater about the size of a football field in place.
And there are another 95 such mushroom clouds and craters.
"Wow!" Bowen exclaimed, "This guy is amazing, what if he smashes on the British ship?"
"Haha, I'm afraid the superstructure of that ship will not be found." Keos smiled, "Okay, let's go back, it's time for dive bombers."