Chapter 1273: Dawn

"General, the Wilhelm der Kaiser has been sunk." A staff officer on a German light cruiser reported to Lieutenant General Walter Walser.

Lieutenant General Walter Walser could not help but close his eyes in pain. The aircraft carrier "Wilhelm the Great" is the flagship of the aircraft carrier formation of the Indian Ocean Fleet! In this battle, it was sunk before it played any role. This is undoubtedly an extremely heavy blow to the German Navy.

At the same time, this also shows that although the aircraft carrier is already the absolute main force in naval battles. However, under certain circumstances, aircraft carriers are still very easy to be sunk. Although an aircraft carrier can easily sink a battleship with carrier-based aircraft, once it is close, the battleship's main guns can also easily sink an aircraft carrier.

"Try to rescue those crew members who fell into the water. In addition, order other aircraft carriers to escape as much as possible. As long as we can survive until dawn, it's time for us to counterattack." Lieutenant General Walther Walser ordered.

"Yes, General."

Everyone knows that the period before dawn is undoubtedly the most difficult period for the aircraft carrier formation of the German Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet. With the battleship formation no longer in place, facing the battlecruisers of the island navy, they had no other way but to escape. However, the battlecruisers of the island navy are so fast that their aircraft carriers have no ability to counterattack at all.

"Haha! Yoshi! Well done. We finally sank one of the German aircraft carriers. Work harder and sink the other German aircraft carriers. We will win this naval battle!" Takasu Lieutenant General Shiro's face was full of smiles. The heavy cruisers of the Japanese Navy were easily slaughtered by the heavy cruisers of the German Navy and suffered heavy losses, which made him very annoyed before. But now, sinking the German Navy's aircraft carrier, it seems that everything is different.

"General, we have eliminated one, and the other German ships are not far away. Soon we will be able to kill them all. The German Indian Ocean Fleet only has four aircraft carriers. As long as we can After they are all eliminated, there are only four aircraft carriers of the German Pacific Fleet left on the Pacific battlefield. And we have a total of eight aircraft carriers, and we will definitely be able to defeat them!" Rear Admiral Suzuki Yoshio said.

Lieutenant General Takasu Shiro nodded in satisfaction, he also thought the same way. Although they lost in the capital ship duel, the loss was heavy. But if the German Navy's aircraft carrier can be eliminated, they can use the carrier-based aircraft to besiege the German Navy and win the naval battle.

"Well, hurry up, it's not long before dawn. Take advantage of this time to sink all the German aircraft carriers as much as possible!" Lieutenant General Takasu Shiro ordered.

"Hi, General." Major General Yoshio Suzuki replied.

After sinking the "Wilhelm the Great" aircraft carrier, Lieutenant General Takasu Shiro did not forget to send a good news to General Yamamoto Fifty-six.

When the telegram was delivered to General Yamamoto Fifty-Six, the gloomy look on his face finally dissipated a lot.

"Takasu-kun did a good job this time. If he can really eliminate all four aircraft carriers of the German Indian Ocean Fleet, then we will have an advantage in this naval battle." Yamamoto Fifty-Six said the general.

Lieutenant General Nagumo Tadaichi nodded: "Your Excellency, Takasu-kun and the others have already destroyed one German aircraft carrier, and are now chasing and killing the other three aircraft carriers. However, there is not much time until dawn. I hope that Takasu-kun and the others can seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and eliminate all the German aircraft carriers in one fell swoop. In that case, our chances of winning this naval battle will be much higher."

If the navy of the island country can take advantage of the carrier-based aircraft, the next battle will become very beneficial to them. Although the German Navy still has many airfields on the islands in the Pacific Ocean. However, those airports are fixed after all, and many island navies seem to have removed those airports one by one. At that time, the victory of the island navy in this naval battle will no longer be empty talk.

Admiral Yamamoto Fifty-Six was also very satisfied with this turning point. The heavy loss of the capital ship team made him look very ugly, thinking that winning this naval battle would be very difficult. But now, I didn't expect to turn around again. The four "Amagi-class" battlecruisers led by Lieutenant General Takasu Shiro are about to reverse the situation for them.

"Nayun-kun, are the carrier-based aircraft units ready? After dawn, the carrier-based aircraft units should be dispatched." General Yamamoto Fifty-Six asked.

"Your Excellency, Commander, the carrier-based aircraft unit has long been ready to attack. After dawn, we will attack with all our strength!" Lieutenant General Chuichi Nagumo replied.

After dawn, the two aircraft carrier teams of the Japanese navy will dispatch a large number of carrier-based aircraft. These carrier-based aircraft not only have to escort the retreating capital ship fleet, but also have to wait for an opportunity to attack the German navy's capital ship fleet or aircraft carrier fleet, further expanding the advantages of the island navy. It is foreseeable that they will face a bitter battle after dawn. In view of the fact that the aircraft performance and pilot quality of the German Navy are stronger than those of the island navy, the loss of the island navy in the team will be great. However, as long as you can win this battle, no matter how big the loss is, it is worth it. The lost planes and pilots will soon be replenished from home.

Time passed little by little, and the navy of the island country was still chasing and killing the aircraft carrier formation of the German Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet.

After the aircraft carrier "William the Great" was sunk, the aircraft carrier "Frederick III" was also unfortunately caught up. Under the fierce shelling of the "Amagi-class" battlecruisers of the Japanese navy, the aircraft carrier "Frederick III" was sunk in less than half an hour.

At the same time, the aircraft carriers "Wilhelm II" and "Wilhelm III" of the German Navy were also pursued. Although the small and medium-sized warships of the German Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet fought back desperately, and even launched lightning strikes to delay the "Amagi-class" battlecruisers of the island navy to buy time for the evacuation of the aircraft carrier, they still failed in the end.

The "William II" aircraft carrier was hit twice and suffered heavy damage. The aircraft carrier "William III" was also hit by a shell, and a big hole was blown out of the flight deck. But at the same time, the sky is getting brighter.