What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 590 Piercing the Tiger's Skin
"The main force of the Third Fleet's fast and slow fleets is about to converge. According to infrared imaging, they will be able to dock and land within half an hour at most!"

At 22:25, after the reconnaissance satellites brought a new round of intelligence, the coalition forces, having completed all preparations, issued the order for a full-scale attack.

Although the midday defeat left the entire northern and southern parts of Sugo undefended and effectively lost, the Allied aircraft losses were minimal. After replenishing ammunition, they still had enough to organize a "decisive" attack and were still able to achieve their operational objective in one decisive battle.

In just 36 hours, this was the fourth decisive battle organized by the coalition forces involving more than 200 warplanes.

This number may not be the highest, but in terms of the frequency of single-unit deployments and the intensity within a short period of time, it has surpassed history and reached a new level.

Caught off guard, the entire European continent and the Empire activated their emergency response mechanisms, putting their relaxed combat readiness to a severe test after the death of the polar bear.

Some pilots have already flown more than 15 sorties in a row, far exceeding normal combat conditions. Currently, 99% of the entire Joint Air Force is frantically taking drugs.

However, their treatment was much better than that of the army's elite, who were given rock candy directly, while the precious pilots obviously couldn't be consumed like that, and the drugs were much less potent and had fewer side effects.

Even so, their energy was almost pushed to the limit, especially the 34 bombers led by Thomas. Each crew had traveled a long distance from heading to England to carrying out the mission, and basically spent almost 40 hours on the plane. If this attack failed, they probably wouldn't be able to take off again in the next 48 hours.

Wayne and Johnson couldn't afford to wait any longer. Although everyone tacitly agreed to put all the expenses on the British wing, they were starting to feel the strain from the repeated, exaggerated mobilizations and resource preparations.
The empire has already advanced $10 billion in costs alone, and that was spent in just two days!

Over the past few years, the Empire has accumulated expensive weapons, which are consumed just like cheap gunpowder bullets. Behind every sortie of hundreds of aircraft is a logistical force ten times that size.

It's okay to do it once in a short time, but I really can't keep it up any longer!

Just before the order to attack was given, Terren personally made a small request to the Allied forces:

The only fighter jets that Ying can deploy are Harriers and anti-submarine aircraft. They can participate in the battle, but can they be commanded independently to take charge of the flanks? After all, the main job of the Harrier is anti-ship, and it is not capable of participating in a head-on collision.

This reason is perfectly reasonable, and even a madman couldn't find fault with it:
If we only compare air combat capabilities, the AV8B Harrier is really no better than the Gnat; they're at most about the same level!
Besides, the bleeding for the hero was already quite significant, and everyone unanimously agreed to the request, even tacitly acknowledging that the hero could quietly slack off and not be forced to keep up with the main force.

After securing independent command, the first thing Terren did was to unify communications. He simply and bluntly ordered the 54 British-carrying aircraft to stop receiving all orders from Aldgrove and take command himself!
By this time, he had already boarded a Nimrod R1 electronic jamming/reconnaissance aircraft and arrived at the front line like Mark.

Having suffered heavy losses, the Royal Air Force was naturally willing to accept the orders of its highest commander. Subsequently, the independent channel of Trent reiterated that everything must be done in accordance with orders and that no attack was allowed without orders.

After receiving all responses, the order was immediately given to proceed to the vicinity of the Cairngorms Mountains and fly north along the coastline at low altitude.

Teren was also very nervous. Just before he boarded the plane, the Lost Empire announced that the cargo ship had sunk and been successfully delivered. They then told them that the four warships to be delivered had secretly moved eastward away under the cover of smoke from other warships, and then southward to approach the shore.

The four trading warships will not participate in the firing but will do their best to conceal themselves. The main force of the Third Fleet will try to attract attention, but it cannot guarantee that everything will go smoothly. If they are sunk by the Allied forces, the fleet will not bear any responsibility.

Therefore, the primary mission of the 54 large, independent fighter jets was to defend against the coalition forces and protect the 22-ton warships if they attempted to launch an attack, which would then be taken over by the Marines and the sailors led by Philger.

Tren, Band, and Blair had all mentally reviewed the situation repeatedly. The 220,000-ton warships were likely the Bismarck, Blücher, and a possible third Bismarck. The aircraft carrier was also likely to be developed based on the Bismarck hull, since the Bismarck was the only large warship in the Hans.

When the time comes, if we take the British to seize the Han warships, no one else can find fault with us. At worst, we can send two battleships out. Don't say we're not being fair!
One battleship and one aircraft carrier are sufficient for the current British forces, so this arrangement is quite appropriate.

Time flew by and it was 23:05 PM. When the 128 coalition assault groups flying low in the darkness took the lead in climbing and launching AIM-120 missiles, the battle began again.

More than 200 stealth Swifts outside the Eagle Furniture were immediately hit by a torrent of AIM-120 missiles and were caught off guard, locked on by active radar missiles with almost no chance of escape.

At the same time, the fast fleet of the Third Fleet in the harbor began launching gnats from the smoke screen, while the slower fleet behind began launching V1s in large numbers, still at an exaggerated rate of nearly 200 per minute.

However, unlike before, the Allied forces, which aimed to crush the Third Fleet from the outset, did not insist on air combat. A group of 48 anti-ship aircraft, consisting of Mirage F1s, Mirage 2000s and F18s, split into two groups. 18 aircraft bypassed the Hawk Furness in advance and headed north to attack the slow-moving fleet, while 30 aircraft went straight to the fast-moving fleet in the harbor!
联军自然也看出来快速舰队烟幕之下的才是真正的精华，袭击的30架飞机中有全部18架F18，并且采用了5枚鱼叉+2枚AIM120挂载方案，和幻影2000C一起拥有114枚反舰导弹！
Due to the interference of the smoke screen and the fact that the fast fleet was deliberately closing the distance between the warships, the Allied forces believed, based on radar and photographs, that the number of capital ships should be around 4 to 6, which was consistent with the previous size of the Second Fleet's capital ships. There might also be a few destroyers and cruisers, but they could be ignored.

With 138 missiles distributed across 6 ships, that's an average of 19 missiles per main warship. Even with smoke screen interference and a lower hit rate, at least 10 missiles will hit. Even if the warship doesn't sink, it will be rendered combat ineffective and paralyzed!

After this round, the bomber group still has more than 700 Harpoons. If they still can't sink the Third Fleet, Johnson can announce that the whole world is fighting aliens together.

Thanks to the carefully planned timing, the two anti-ship aircraft groups launched their attack before the fast and slow fleets had time to launch a large number of catapults.

The advantage of land allowed the Allied forces to reverse the buff of low-altitude penetration, so much so that Don only detected a large number of aircraft around both fleets when they concentrated their missile launches.

Upon seeing the massive aerial signal appear briefly and then disappear, he immediately realized that it was a fleet of aircraft returning after firing its missiles, and the distance of over 100 kilometers clearly indicated a long-range harpoon attack!

The harpoon is not fast; it would take at least 10 minutes to fly over, and being a subsonic target, it is not actually uninterceptable.

Of course, ordinary anti-aircraft guns wouldn't be able to stop much, but at this point, the fast fleet had quite a few defensive measures:

Smoke screen interference serves as a line of defense;
Four battleships and two cruisers were modified with "Beagle" and "Tartar" anti-aircraft missiles, forming a line of defense;
All warships are covered with a dense array of 20/37/40/105 caliber anti-aircraft guns, which are theoretically quite powerful and are the mainstay of air defense.

Even the AIM-9L of the grub can participate in the attack against the harpoon, but efficiency and firepower distribution are troublesome.

All upgraded warships are equipped with corresponding fire control radars, which are at the level of the 50s and can detect missiles without much problem, making them fully capable of defense!

Ninety harpoons and 24 exoplanet missiles flew silently at low altitudes, and due to interference from ground echoes, they were not detected by the old radar until they were close to the coast. Without Tang Wen's order, the various anti-aircraft weapons that had been on high alert were automatically activated.

"Beagle" and "Tartar" missiles emerged from the smoke screen at a rate of one minute, but what was even more eye-catching was the simultaneous firing of a dense array of anti-aircraft guns. Countless fiery red missiles suddenly burst forth in the darkness, illuminating the smoke released by the battleships in a bright red light, like glowing clouds on the sea.

Conventional visual air defense is ineffective against anti-ship missiles, but the remaining 6 warships and 5 destroyers, arranged in a certain formation and with a bug-like intelligence linkage mechanism, can easily concentrate the different firepower of multiple warships to attack one point, attempting to intercept Harpoon missiles by covering the attack trajectory.

Due to the time difference in launch, the first wave of 18 Harpoons and 12 Exocet missiles broke through the fire wall at the cost of 6 missiles and rushed towards the two largest Bismarck-class ships.

Unable to maneuver freely in the inner harbor, the two battleships were caught off guard and nine missiles struck the Tirpitz, which was sailing sideways, while another six missiles locked onto the Tirpitz.

The harpoon's hit detection power was almost equivalent to a 406mm heavy bullet. Tang Wen immediately heard a tinnitus sound effect and saw a notification pop up in front of him:

[Bismarck's "Adrenaline" effect activated, main/secondary gun reload time -64%]

[The "Adrenaline" effect on the Tirpitz has been activated, reducing main/secondary gun reload time by 45%]

The "Full Power" effect is now activated, reducing secondary gun reload time by 50% and increasing accuracy by 50%*2 during combat.

When both skills are activated simultaneously, the reload time of the two battleship 105mm anti-aircraft guns immediately decreases cumulatively:

The Bismarck's 105mm anti-aircraft gun reload time was reduced from 3.4 seconds to 0.61 seconds, and the Tirpitz's was reduced to 0.99 seconds!
The two warships were firing a total of eight twin-mounted 105mm guns, which increased their firepower several times over after the upgrade, with a total rate of fire of 1270 rounds per minute!
This is roughly on par with close-in weapon systems (CIWS) firing 3500 rounds per minute, which can play a significant interception role. Moreover, the range has been increased from just over 1 kilometer for CIWS to nearly 15 kilometers, and the power of the 105mm VT fuse (upgraded) is far greater than that of the 20mm CIWS!

The 105mm anti-aircraft guns on the battleships were now almost like machine guns, with shells flying out like water lines with dazzling flashes. The second wave of 30 missiles crashed into the wall of shells, with only 16 breaking through the defenses. Three of them hit the Scharnhorst, two hit the Hipper, and the last three hit the Bismarck again.

沙恩霍斯特号被命中舰首还好只损失24%血量，但希佩尔号很倒霉的被命中核心区血量骤减78%，俾斯麦号血量下降至19%，搭载的105防空炮装填速度进一步降低到2.7秒、0.75秒和0.65秒！
After being attacked by 60 missiles, with 23 of them hitting the target, the density of the fast fleet's air defense firepower actually increased by more than three times!
The exaggerated rate of fire illuminated the night sky with the firepower of hundreds of anti-aircraft guns. Of the subsequent 54 missiles, only 25 broke through the defenses, with 16 hitting their targets and sinking the Hipper and a destroyer, which were unable to perform damage control in time.

Of the 114 missiles launched, 39 hit their targets, resulting in the loss of only two auxiliary ships for the fast attack fleet while increasing its overall air defense firepower by more than four times!
The soldiers left on the shore were stunned by the dense barrage of bullets visible to the naked eye, but they noticed the huge commotion when the Hipper exploded in the smoke and the rising cloud of explosion!
After a brief deliberation, they concluded that the old ship's anti-aircraft guns posed no significant threat and reported this to Allied headquarters:

Significant results!

The news coming from the north was even more encouraging:

The fast fleet consists of tough battleships that can withstand damage and benefit from reload time buffs, while the slow fleet is made up of fragile wooden ironclad ships with little to no firepower.

Forget about being harpooned, even an AIM-120 missile could send you to the bottom of the ocean!

The 18 Mirage F1s and Mirages heading north encountered almost no decent resistance. All 18 Exocet missiles hit their targets, swiftly and decisively destroying 9 King-class battleships!
The "King-class" was, after all, a fully loaded 29,000-ton armored ship. The Mirage F1s were afraid that they wouldn't be able to kill it, so they only used two Exocet missiles per ship. As a result, they saw that the warships below only had sporadic anti-aircraft firepower, and then the "30,000-ton battleship" was reduced to ashes right under their noses.

It wasn't just an explosion; the entire ship was blown into several pieces and destroyed almost instantly!
This left the missile-launching pilots speechless:
When did the Flying Fish become so powerful? Or did the Third Fleet cut corners and use cast iron to impersonate armor?

Although the reason was still unclear, their confidence was immediately boosted, and they promptly reported the good news to headquarters.

Upon hearing this, Johnson couldn't help but slam his fist on the table. Things were finally going in the direction he had predicted!
唯一的变数是前方的E3B报告突然在第三舰队以东20公里发现了2条（实则是挨的很近的4条）战舰，更新快速舰队主力舰为8艘。

Johnson noticed that the flight path didn't seem like an escape route, but rather a route that bypassed the coastline and continued south. Could it be that they were planning a surprise attack on Lundon?
Looking at the battle map, it turned out that more than 50 British planes were right there!
Meanwhile, Terren claimed to have spotted several additional warships, indicating that they seemed to be outnumbered and willing to take the initiative, leaving the more valuable Harpoons to the main force of the Third Fleet.

With nearly 30 Harriers at our disposal, why worry about two battleships that have sneaked out?
Johnson waved his hand and said: "Granted!"

The fast fleet launched about 270 Gnats to assist in the battle, and the slow fleet also had about 100. But with a wave of his hand, he directly ordered all 110 or so fighters to rush forward, and at the same time ordered the 26 B-1Bs that were lingering inland to take off!

Sixteen of them, carrying 384 harpoons, rushed towards the fast fleet, while the remaining ten folded their wings, accelerated northward at low altitude, and attacked the slow fleet with 240 harpoons!
23时10分至23时30分之间，在鹰弗尼斯到洛西茅斯之间的100多公里先是爆发了混乱而空前的战斗，600多架第三舰队的战机和180架联军战机展开大范围空中对决，失去了V1掩护的蚊蚋和雨燕面对aim120挂满的联军很是吃力，不断有战机掉下。

The full-speed fleet was in even worse shape. Although it had launched nearly 2000 V1 missiles, they failed to form a formation and could not play an effective role except by creating radar and acoustic noise. The more than 200 Gnats also failed to advance and detect the low-altitude B1Bs, and were only concerned with dogfighting with about 40 coalition aircraft.

Meanwhile, the eight remaining Exocet mobile launchers, which were lying in ambush in the Cairngorms Mountains, fired 16 Harpoons.

At 23:50, as the large-scale air battle entered its most intense and heated phase, almost all 26 B-1Bs simultaneously released all their missiles and returned to base without looking back.

The fast fleet's frantic stacking of buffs has increased the density of anti-air firepower to five times. Approaching Harpoons exploded and disintegrated as if they had hit a solid wall. However, relying on its absolute numerical advantage, more than 170 of the 384 Harpoons successfully broke through the defenses.

Harpoons, each dealing 13500 damage, hurtled towards the dying warship, and even firing at full power could not stop the sinking process.

The explosions of hundreds of missiles were deafening, but they could not drown out the earth-shattering noise of the battleship's demise, which was comparable to a nuclear explosion. The loud noise even shattered the windows of buildings on the shore more than ten kilometers away.

The slow-moving northern fleet fared even worse; its 240 harpoons were destroying over 100 battleships at an incredible speed, as if they were popping balloons.

Those early battleships, which should have been ironclad, were incredibly fragile. Once hit, they were destroyed in flames, just like civilian ships without any armor.

The pilots at the front also realized something was wrong and finally realized that the huge slow fleet was actually civilian ships in disguise, while the real main force, like the Second Fleet, was still a dozen or so warships from the fast fleet!
This left the coalition forces both excited and furious at being tricked. Were all those hundred-plus armored ships they had been so worried about actually fake?!
Johnson was extremely annoyed by this. If he had been bolder and organized a suicide squadron to charge, the Third Fleet's reputation would have been exposed long ago!

(End of this chapter)