The Rise of the Third Reich

"God, did I read that right?"

Another 1,000-kilogram bomb fell on the unlucky fast tanker. It exploded in the belly of the tanker and broke the tanker's keel. The 30,000-ton giant ship actually broke into two pieces in the middle!

"Oh my god, that's not a 500-kilogram bomb. It's a 1,000-kilogram bomb! The Germans actually used a 1,000-kilogram bomb!" Lieutenant General Phillips, standing on the battlecruiser "Reputation", shouted Wailed.

The 250 kilogram bomb "Reputation" is not too scared, the 500 kilogram bomb is likely to cause serious damage to the "Reputation", and the 1,000 kilogram... let alone the "Reputation" as a battlecruiser, it is thick-skinned The armored battleship "Nelson" can't stand it either. If it hits a vital point, it will definitely kill you!

Are these German Nazis too cruel?

Before Lieutenant General Phillips finished speaking, the Ju88s that had been circling the "aircraft carrier" in the sky roared towards the battlecruiser "Reputation"...

Lieutenant General Phillips lowered his head in pain. He knew that it would be difficult for his flagship "Reputation" to escape this disaster. The British Empire will soon lose a valuable battlecruiser!

…

Vice Admiral James Somerville's flag flies high on the "Ark Royal". Probably to highlight the status of the aircraft carrier as the core of the fleet, this time Somerville did not choose the "King George V" class as his flagship, but chose the "Ark Royal" aircraft carrier that had made great achievements in the Mediterranean.

But standing on the bridge of the "Ark Royal", looking at the "Sea Spitfire" carrier-based fighter jet that fell to pieces on the deck, he felt powerless.

"Lieutenant Admiral, the landing speed of the Sea Spitfire is too fast. If you are not a very skilled veteran, it will easily cause an accident." Captain Scott, the captain of the aircraft carrier, stood behind Somerville and whispered. "The current loss of experienced veteran pilots is too serious. Only half of the Sea Spitfire pilots on Ark Royal have more than 500 hours of flying time..."

"There is a shortage of good pilots everywhere now, and the Royal Navy must overcome this difficulty." Somerville shook his head slightly, and there was nothing he could do about the matter.

In fact, the skills of the carrier-based aircraft pilots on the "Ark Royal" aircraft carrier are considered very good at the moment. There are actually more than a dozen veterans who joined the Royal Naval Air Force before 1939. What really gave Somerville a headache was the carrier-based aircraft pilots and sailors on the three new aircraft carriers, the "Formidable", the "Victory" and the "Indomitable". These three new aircraft carriers were only completed from the end of 1940 to the first half of 1941, and were put into service without even completing sea trials. Most of the sailors, pilots and ground crew on board were novices. The captains of the three aircraft carriers were on tenterhooks every day. The few "Sea Spitfires" they dropped were all small ones, for fear that some big accident would blow up the aircraft carriers. This would be a disservice to the people and the king.

"Lieutenant General, the most troublesome thing now is not the Spitfire, but the Dauntless dive bomber the Americans gave us!"

"Dreadnought? That's a good airplane!" Somerville asked puzzledly. "I've never heard of a fearless wrestling style..."

The Dreadnought is slow and easy to control when landing on the ship. Of course, it is unlikely to fall on the deck. But Colonel Scott still looked like he was about to cry. He told Somerville: "The pilots of the carrier-based dive bombers suffered heavy losses in previous battles. Their entire army was wiped out several times. Now, Ark Royal The pilots flying Dauntless dive bombers on HMS 'Formidable', 'Victory' and 'Indomitable' were almost all rookies and did not know how to dive bomb at all."

The Royal Air Force has a very large fighter force, so it is relatively easy to recruit carrier-based fighter pilots. Veterans with 500 or 1,000 hours are hard to find, but "veteran rookies" with 200 or 300 hours of flying are still enough. , after a month or two of training, you can barely fly a plane to take off and land on an aircraft carrier.

However, the Royal Air Force itself did not have dive bombers, so it naturally had no way to send pilots for shore-based dive bombers to the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy's carrier-based dive bomber pilots suffered particularly serious losses, and were wiped out in several battles.

"In the beginning we had good pilots, but no good airplanes." Colonel Scott sighed and complained, "But now we have good airplanes, but no good pilots. Now those who fly the Dreadnought The rookies didn’t even have a 20% bomb hit rate during training. I really doubt they could even hit a single bomb on the battlefield!”

In training, the hit rate was not even 20%. In actual combat, facing the firepower of anti-aircraft artillery and enemy aircraft, maybe nothing could be blown up!

Lieutenant General Somerville shuddered when he thought of this possibility. The victory or defeat of this battle all depends on the four fleet aircraft carriers, and the main strike force of these four aircraft carriers is 51 plus SBD Dauntless dive bombers (Ark Royal 24, HMS Formidable, HMS Victory, and HMS Indomitable 9 each) aircraft) and 39 TBD Destroyer torpedo bombers (12 from Ark Royal, 9 each from HMS Formidable, HMS Victory, and HMS Indomitable). The TBD Destroyer torpedo bomber can only exert sufficient power when the SBD Dauntless dive bomber severely damages its opponent.

If the SBD Dauntless attack is ineffective, then the TBD Destroyer's attack will have no effect either!

This means that the four aircraft carriers on which high hopes are placed do not have much attack power...

"20% is enough!" Somerville breathed, knowing that the British Empire had no choice. If the fleet is not dispatched this time, the Germans will capture Gibraltar and the Shetland Islands. Then in a few weeks the combined fleets of Germany, Italy and France will come to challenge the English Channel.

As for the Battle of the English Channel, the Royal Navy cannot escape under any circumstances!

Somerville gritted his teeth and said: "We have 51 SBD Dreadnoughts. As long as there is a 20% hit rate, no, as long as there is a 10% hit rate, five 1,000-pound bombs can hit the target, which is enough to cause serious damage." The German High Seas Fleet!"

The SBD Dreadnaught dive bomber can carry 1,000 pounds of bombs. If the three battleships and two aircraft carriers of the German High Seas Fleet were to receive one each, they would not be able to go to the battlefield again without two or three months of maintenance. Moreover, Somerville also has 39 TBD Destroyer torpedo bombers, and thousands of shore-based aircraft at airports in northern Scotland and the Onik Islands and Faroe Islands. Once the two German aircraft carriers are unable to take off and land aircraft, the German fleet will The anti-aircraft firepower will be greatly weakened, and you may be hit by more bombs and torpedoes...

"Sir, telegram from the Reputation!" At this time, the communications officer of the Ark Royal suddenly reported in a trembling voice, "The Reputation has just been attacked by 150 German aircraft. It was hit by three 1,000 kilogram bombs and three Torpedoes! Lieutenant General Phillips has ordered the ship to be abandoned..."

"What?" Lieutenant General Somerville took a breath, "We lost our reputation?"

"Didn't P-51 and P-40 be sent to cover it? How come..." Captain Scott, the captain of Ark Royal, frowned more and more.

This is not a good sign! As soon as the battle began, Britain lost a 33,700-ton battlecruiser, and this was despite the cover provided by P-51 and P-40...

…

On the evening of June 8, off the coast of Bergen, Norway, two German aircraft carriers with many aircraft parked on their decks were slowly moving along the Norwegian coastline under the protection of 2 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers and 12 destroyers. Sailing north.

The "disposable aircraft" plan proposed by Helmut Haye was approved by Redel and Jeshunek. Four squadrons (12 aircraft each) of Fokker 99s took off from Bergen and Stavanger at noon on June 8, and then landed on the "Seidlitz" and "Sekt" superior.

There are now a total of 112 regular aircraft on these two aircraft carriers, and there are also 8 spare aircraft.

Because of these 48 newly added Fokker 99s, the two aircraft carriers now have a certain attack power and can operate independently from the battleships.

"Lieutenant General, a report from the Navy Headquarters. An hour ago, our shore-based aircraft sank another British aircraft carrier! The location was in the sea west of Ireland. This is a large aircraft carrier of about 30,000 tons, and it has been confirmed. !”

Of course this is another oil tanker covered with wooden planks to pretend to be an aircraft carrier - in the field of "ship makeup", the British Royal Navy is still very advanced. Not to mention that the pilots on the chaotic battlefield might admit their mistake, even the staff at the rear couldn't detect the blurred photos.

Captain Fritz Hinze, the chief of staff of the fleet and the captain of the "Seidlitz", took a copy of the telegram he had just received and told Lieutenant General Haye, "This is also a large aircraft carrier. Today the British Two aircraft carriers and one battlecruiser have been lost, and at least 150 aircraft have been shot down. It seems that the British aircraft carriers no longer pose a threat to us."

According to the intelligence possessed by Germany, Britain has 7-8 aircraft carriers in the mainland and the Atlantic direction, including 3-4 large aircraft carriers. Now 2 large aircraft carriers (actually oil tankers) have been sunk, and the remaining ones are 1-2 aircraft carriers.

"It cannot be said that it does not pose a threat," Helmut Haye shook his head. "They should have 1-2 fleet aircraft carriers, one of which is the Royal Ark. This aircraft carrier can carry 60-70 carriers. It’s still very dangerous!”

At this moment, the communications officer on the "Sedlitz" suddenly shouted: "Sir, our submarine has discovered the 'Hood'. It is in the waters between the Faroe Islands and Iceland!"