The Rise of the Third Reich

On the night of June 7, 1941, in the Celtic Sea south of Ireland, the huge British Royal Navy C Fleet was sailing westward at a speed of nearly 20 knots along the southern coastline of Ireland. The entire fleet implemented strict lighting control, and no light was visible. Only by the hazy moonlight, huge ships like mountains could be vaguely seen, one after another, breaking through the waves.

In the command tower of the flagship battleship "King George V", Vice Admiral Somerville took out an exquisitely crafted pocket watch to check the time, and then glanced at the thick black cloth covering the command tower window.

"It should be completely dark outside now, right?" Vice Admiral Somerville asked.

"Lieutenant General, it's completely dark." Captain Lynch of King George V replied.

"Did the radar and sonar find anything?"

"Nothing," said Colonel Lynch, "but this area is a very active area for German submarines and reconnaissance aircraft."

Vice Admiral Somerville nodded and ordered, "Let's split up now!"

Fleet C is going to split up! This is part of the battle plan formulated by Admiral John Koronin Tovey (Wartime Admiral with the rank of Lieutenant General), Commander of the British Home Fleet.

Because Admiral Tovey knew very well that German submarines and reconnaissance aircraft were just at the doorstep of the British Royal Navy, it was impossible for Fleet B and Fleet C to attack without being noticed, and being discovered was almost certain! So Vice Admiral Tovey could only take some additional measures to confuse the German Navy.

Letting Fleet C take the risk of going south from the Strait of St. George was part of Tovey's plan to confuse the enemy, and now Fleet C's division was also to confuse the Germans.

According to the plan, Fleet C, with Somerville's flagship "King George V" and four aircraft carriers as the main force, would bypass the island of Ireland and sail rapidly to the north, running at least 250 nautical miles in one night. By tomorrow morning, the distance between Fleet C and Brest Port will exceed 700 kilometers. As long as it is not discovered at night, the probability of being discovered by the enemy tomorrow daytime is not too high. In this way, Fleet C can ambush in the designated sea area without anyone noticing.

The parts of Fleet C, including the two battlecruisers "Reputation" and "Repulse", the two troop transports "Queen Mary" and "Queen Elizabeth" converted from luxury cruise ships (empty), and several camouflaged large tankers (also empty), and dozens of lighter ships will form Fleet E.

Fleet E will be commanded by Vice Admiral Phillips and will swagger to the southwest, that is, the direction of the Azores. However, no matter how much Fleet E accelerates, it will not be possible to break out of the patrol circle of German aircraft in Brest Port before dawn tomorrow because of the problem of sailing direction.

Therefore, it is highly likely that Fleet E will be discovered! At that time, the Germans will most likely mistake Fleet E for the British fleet leaving the Strait of St. George. Once Fleet E is discovered by the Germans, the mission will be completed. According to the plan, the fleet will be disbanded immediately and scattered to reduce the losses caused by the bombing of German aircraft. As long as the "Reputation" and "Repulse" are not sunk, the loss of some medium and light ships is still acceptable to the Royal Navy.

After the German aircraft bombed the British ships that disbanded the fleet, the highest command of the German Navy is likely to think that the British aircraft carrier will not pose a threat for the time being, so the ambush of Fleet C will have a great chance of success.

It has to be said that the Royal Navy is an old-fashioned maritime overlord that has dominated the sea for hundreds of years. It is not known how much better it is than the German Navy at the level of command and organization of maritime battles. Now it is just a plan that a few naval generals picked up at will, and it looks more sophisticated than the plan that the German Navy headquarters has carefully planned for several months.

If it were not for the revolutionary change of "controlling the sea with air", or the way of decisive battle of surface fleets, the current German Navy would not necessarily be sure of winning even if it was twice as strong as the Royal Navy.

But there are no "ifs" on the battlefield. The ocean is now increasingly dominated by aircraft, not only during the day, but also at night when it is shrouded in darkness. Aircraft can still search the sea surface with the help of radar.

Shortly after the British Royal Navy's E Fleet and C Fleet were separated, an Fw-200C long-range reconnaissance aircraft took off from Brest No. 2 Airport and discovered the E Fleet sailing southwest at full speed.

"Your Excellency, we have found the main force of the British Home Fleet heading south. It is near the island of Ireland. The coordinates are 50.4 degrees north latitude and 9.2 degrees west longitude. The course is southwest by west."

In the Kiel Port Naval Headquarters, Marshal Raeder, who was yawning and staying up late, heard the news and all his sleepiness disappeared without a trace.

"Was it discovered by a submarine or an aircraft? Do you know how many ships there are?" Raeder suddenly jumped up from the armchair he was sitting on, walked towards the sea chart in the combat command center, and asked the staff who informed him of the news.

"It was discovered by the Fw-200C. According to the radar, there are at least 30 ships."

"At least 30 ships?" Raeder knew that airborne radar was even less reliable than shipborne radar, and it often had large errors. So the number "30" only meant that the Fw-200C had discovered a large fleet of unidentified ships.

Hans Jeshunek and Otto Schneewind had been chatting quietly next to the chart table for a while. Seeing Redl coming, Schneewind said: "Marshal, it is basically certain that it is the British mainland. The main force of the fleet is already there, they should be heading towards Gibraltar for reinforcements.”

Redl nodded, seeming to agree with Schniewind's analysis, "This fleet is going to reinforce Gibraltar, so the fleet going north is probably going to reinforce the Shetland Islands."

"Hans, what do you think?" Redel then asked Jeshunek for his opinion.

"Marshal, I have no opinion." Jeshunek shook his head and said. His "command art" is quite simple. He doesn't think about such complicated things. He just bombs the enemy ships when he finds them, and shoots down the enemy planes when he finds them. That's it!

Jeshunek said: "Now that the enemy fleet has been discovered, give the order to the 2nd Hainan Aviation Division in Brest and let them attack!"

An aviation division is the superior organization of an aviation regiment. An aviation division usually consists of 3-5 aviation regiments, plus several independent aviation groups (usually reconnaissance aircraft groups). The 2nd German Naval Aviation Division deployed in Brest is an aviation division with 4 regiments. Includes 2 combat aviation groups (one group each for Fw-190, Fokker Zero and BF-110 night fighters, and a training group), 2 bombing aviation groups (one of which is from the Italian Air Force) and 4 reconnaissance aircraft groups (Two brigades each of Fw-200C and He-115), very powerful.

Among them, the 3rd Bombardment Aviation Regiment of Hainan Airlines and the 8th Bombardment Aviation Regiment of the Italian Air Force can be used for sea attacks. The two bombing aviation groups have a total of 240 "commonly used" aircraft that can be used for combat, including Ju88 and S.M. 79 each accounted for half.

Adolf Galland, Jr.'s former boss, is now the colonel commander of the 2nd Aviation Division. The Fw-200C that discovered the British Royal Navy's E Fleet belonged to the 2nd Air Division. Before Marshal Redl ordered the 2nd Aviation Division to attack, Colonel Garland had already issued the order to "attack at 3:30 tomorrow morning" - as the commander of the front-line aviation division, he certainly had such authority.

Therefore, when the order from the Navy Headquarters arrived, Garland had already summoned all officers above the squadron leader (including the squadron leader) to arrange an attack mission in the division headquarters' combat command center in the early morning of the next day.

"Each squadron must make all preparations for attack before 3 o'clock!" Garland said, "The first plane to take off from each airport will be at 3:30 tomorrow morning, and the plane will be guided by searchlights to take off at night. At 4 o'clock in the morning, all aircraft participating in the first assault wave must take off. "

Garland took a breath, narrowed one eye, and looked at the captain and squadron leader below him. Everyone is eager to try it, and two-thirds of them have blue Max medals hanging on their collars!

Since the beginning of the Polish campaign, the Luftwaffe and naval aviation had a huge advantage in the exchange ratio, so the consumption of pilots was very slow. There were more and more skilled and experienced veterans, and of course there were more and more ace pilots. .

In contrast, since the UK has always been at a large disadvantage in the pilot exchange ratio, the average survival time of pilots is very short. Therefore, the huge loss of personnel can only be compensated for by shortening the pilot training time. The result is that the skills of British front-line pilots are getting worse and worse, and it becomes easier and easier to shoot them down. The morale of the German frontline pilots is naturally rising day by day.

Colonel Garland nodded with satisfaction and announced loudly: "Now I announce the composition of the first assault wave! The 1st Group of the 3rd Bombardment Aviation Regiment of Hainan Airlines, the 2nd Group of the 8th Italian Bombardment Aviation Regiment, and the 4th Hainan Combat Aviation Regiment. 1. The 2nd, 5th, and 6th Squadrons, the 1st Squadron of the 15th HNA Reconnaissance Aircraft Group, the 2nd Squadron of the 18th HNA Reconnaissance Aircraft Group... a total of 40 Ju88s, 40 S.M.79s, 32 Fokker Zeros, 32 Fw-190s, 9 Fw-200Cs and 9 He-115s. In addition, all Ju88s are equipped with 1,000 kilograms of armor-piercing bombs. The priority targets are British aircraft carriers, followed by battleships and battlecruisers!”