The Rise of the Third Reich

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The roar of the 380mm cannon passed through dozens of kilometers of sea and reached the bridge of the "Hood". It had become a bit dull, as if thunder was rolling on the horizon.

At this time, Vice Admiral Lancelot Holland walked to the side of the bridge, looking at the orange-red fire that kept shining in the dark night in the distance, and his brows could not help but wrinkle. He whispered to Lieutenant Colonel Thomason, the first mate next to him: "The German fleet should be located southeast of Mainland. Due to the obstruction of the Shetland Islands, their radar may not be able to detect us. So we should go around to Northeast of Shetland, let them discover us."

"Lieutenant Admiral, do you want to adjust your formation?" Lieutenant Colonel Thomason asked. "We are likely to have a firefight with the enemy fleet. We should put the strongly armored 'Prince of Wales' in front to clear the way."

The "Prince of Wales" is the second ship of the "King George V" class and was just completed in March 1941. Battleships of this level attach great importance to defense. The main armor belt on the side runs through 60% of the length of the waterline. It has 15 inches of carburized steel armor that covers the front and rear ammunition depots, boiler rooms, and engine room areas. In normal combat, The range (20,000-30,000 meters) can withstand German 380mm armor-piercing projectiles and the British Royal Navy's own 15-inch armor-piercing projectiles.

However, the "King George V" class is a "treaty battleship" with a limited tonnage. While it has strong and heavy armor, it has to reduce its firepower and power system to save valuable tonnage. Its designed maximum speed is 29 knots, which is consistent with the "Hood" which has increased a lot of tonnage after major modifications, and is slower than all German battleships. However, what makes the commanders of the Royal Navy feel most helpless is the main gun system of the "King George V" class. A super battleship with a standard displacement of more than 35,000 tons actually only has 10 14-inch main guns.

"No need." Vice Admiral Lancelot Holland thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "Let the Hood be in front. The Prince of Wales's firepower is too weak to deal with the Bismarck class 's armor."

The battle formation of "HMS Hood" in the front and "Prince of Wales" in the rear was considered to be the main cause of the disaster in the post-war summary. However, for Lieutenant General Holland at this time, there was really no good choice. The "Hood" was not strong enough, and the "Prince of Wales" had insufficient firepower. It was not appropriate for anyone to take the lead.

However, the British did not know the real cause of the tragedy of the "Hood" in this time and space until the end of the war. The real cause of the defeat of the "Hood" and Fleet B was the "Vienna"-class fast cruiser (SP-class) "Riga" anchored close to Antes Island at the northern end of the Shetland Islands. This is a light cruiser with a standard displacement of 5,700 tons. It has two functions in the German Navy. One is as the leader of the destroyer formation; the other is as a reconnaissance cruiser, serving as the eyes and ears of the main fleet.

In order to better serve as a reconnaissance mission, the "Vienna" class fast cruiser is equipped with a FuMo22-H radar. The average sea detection distance is 25-30 nautical miles (according to the light cruiser, it is not that far, it is about 22-23 nautical miles). ), the positioning accuracy error is about 300 meters at 25,000 meters. This radar is currently Germany's most advanced air-to-sea search radar. It is the latest model of radar developed based on the FuMo22 radar with reference to the captured British radar system and resonant magnetron in the late Mediterranean campaign.

Resonant magnetrons are actually electron tube systems that can emit high-energy radio waves, thereby greatly increasing the power of radars. Of course this thing was Britain's top secret, and Canaris's Central Security Service tried their best to steal it from the British. However, the British lost too many radar systems in the Mediterranean campaign (some were radars on warships and aircraft, some were radars from ground radar stations, and some were simply lost in warehouses), among which there were many intact resonance systems. Magnetron. With these resonant magnetrons for reverse engineering, Germany's Lorenz Company quickly produced a knock-off product. Although it is not as easy to use as the original product, it is enough to significantly improve the performance of the FuMo22 radar.

At 11 o'clock in the evening on June 10, when the British Royal Navy Fleet B appeared on the sea 20 nautical miles northeast of Antes Island, it was lurking next to a lighthouse near Antes Island (the lighthouse had been occupied by German marines). The fast cruiser "Riga" detected them with radar.

"Admiral, the 'Riga' has discovered a British fleet of more than 10 ships, located 20 nautical miles northeast of Antes Island."

Admiral Gunther Lütjens, who was commanding the fleet to bombard the British positions and airports on Mainland Island, immediately took his eyes back from the island where fireballs were constantly rising, and the captain and first officer of the "Bismarck" Colonel Lindemann, Chief of Staff of the High Seas Fleet, looked at each other.

"Admiral, he is probably the main force of the British Home Fleet!" Colonel Lindemann said.

Lindemann didn't pay much attention to the "10 ships" data, because the error of search radar in this era was very large, so he could only refer to it.

"It's possible!" Admiral Gunther Lütjens nodded and said with a frown, "But we can't just escape in despair... If the Nelson is not there, we can still fight with the enemy. A battle.”

The "Nelson" not only has strong armor, but also has a 16-inch main gun, which poses a great threat to the "Bismarck" and "Tirpitz".

"Admiral, are we going to fight the enemy?"

"It's not a decisive battle right away." Admiral Gunther Lütjens said, "We need to test it... to generate electricity for Rear Admiral Bei (captain of the Gneisenno), from the Gneisenno, Prinz Eugen, Lützow, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Prague, T13, T14, T15, T16, T17, T18, T19 and T20 formed the first guerrilla formation and stayed here with the British Fight and test their strength."

Admiral Lütjens decided to divide his forces, using the "Gneisenau" with a maximum speed of 33 knots and the two heavy cruisers Prinz Eugen and Lützow with a top speed of 32.5 knots as the main force, plus 4 ships with the same speed. The fast M-class and SP-class cruisers, as well as 8 destroyers formed a "first guerrilla formation" to engage in firefights with the British.

If the incoming enemy is really the main force of the British Home Fleet, then the "First Guerrilla Formation" will escape at high speed. If the incoming enemy is not the main force of the British Home Fleet, then the "First Guerrilla Formation" will try to lure the opponent to the muzzle of the main force of the First High Seas Fleet.

"Admiral, where are we going?" Lindemann asked again.

"We bypassed the Shetland Islands and went to ambush near Antes Island." Admiral Lütjens said, "During the day today, destroyers and eight minelayers have already searched there, and no British minefields were found. We can pass."

The purpose of detouring from the west of the Shetland Islands was of course to avoid being detected by the radar of the British fleet - blocked by the islands and hills on the islands, the British radar was of course "invisible". Moreover, although the current British radar is slightly better than the German radar, there is no way to distinguish battleships and heavy cruisers in the dark.

If what comes up tonight is really the main force of the British Home Fleet, although the Gneisenault and the two heavy cruisers have a high possibility of escaping at high speed, they still need to take some risks. It would be terrible if he was hit in the vital point when the firefight just started. But tonight, the German "First Guerrilla Formation" responsible for testing met the British Fleet B, responsible for luring the enemy.

Around 0:45 in the morning on June 11, the radars of the two British and German fleets, which were a little guilty, discovered each other's positions.

"An enemy fleet was discovered, numbering 15 ships, 30,000 meters away..."

On the Hood, the radar officer loudly reported the latest findings.

"15 ships?" Vice Admiral Lancelot Holland and Lieutenant Colonel Thomason looked at each other.

"Radar has errors," Lieutenant Colonel Thomason said.

"Maybe not all enemy ships!" Vice Admiral Holland frowned.

RAF Coast Air Force aircraft had bombed the German fleet before, and found 30-40 warships, but now only half of them appeared.

"So... where's the rest?"

Vice Admiral Holland shook his head, "No matter...15 ships, just 15 ships. When the distance is close to 23,000 meters, turn left, then open fire, keep the distance above 13,000 meters, and after 5 minutes of exchange of fire, we will turn around and head north." ." He paused and then said, "Power up the Nelson and let Fleet A go south to meet us as soon as possible."

"Sir, it seems there are only 10 enemy ships."

At the same time, on the "Gneisenno", Major General Erich Bay also received a report from the radar officer.

"Only 10 ships?" Major General Bei exhaled softly, "Great! Power up the Bismarck and tell the commander that what we are encountering is not the main force of the British Home Fleet."

"Rear Admiral, do we want to test each other's true and false situation?" the first mate of the Gneisenno asked at this time.

"Of course!" Rear Admiral Bei smiled, "Our Gneisenno now has main guns, and it can fight even if it encounters the Hood! Besides, we also bring 2 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers and 8 If the opponent is not strong, then there is no need to send out the main fleet. If the enemy is strong enough, then we will hold them back and the main fleet will arrive from the north in just 30 minutes."