The Rise of the Third Reich

"God, this isn't true!"

Captain John Ridge, the captain of the "Prince of Wales", witnessed the explosion of the "Hood" with his own eyes. The stern ammunition depot of this more than 40,000-ton battlecruiser was apparently blown up. Colonel John Ridge only saw the fire engulfing the "Hood" in an instant, and vaguely saw a main gun turret flying into the sky. After the big explosion, the hull of the "Hood" suddenly broke into two parts at the rear mainmast. The broken stern had been blown into a pile of wreckage and soon sank into the sea. The front half sank rapidly due to a large amount of water entering the fracture. In less than 3 minutes, this giant ship, which had brought countless pride to the British Empire, sank into the sea!

John Ridge, who was standing on the bridge of the "Prince of Wales" and witnessed this scene, was simply dumbfounded. The most powerful battlecruiser in the British Empire was actually defeated in a few minutes by a battleship and two battleships with inferior firepower. A heavy cruiser was killed.

"Colonel, the Hood has sunk. What should we do?"

The chief mate of the "Prince of Wales" turned the rudder to let the warship avoid the wreckage of the "Hood" and asked questions loudly.

Now the "Prince of Wales" faces more than one "Gneisenau" and two "Admiral Hipper" class heavy cruisers. There are still more than 20 German ships heading south in the north, and most of those 20 ships include the battleships "Bismarck" and "Tirpitz"!

What makes people even more desperate is that the three German battleships all have very fast speeds, most of which are faster than the "Prince of Wales". Therefore, it is impossible for the "Prince of Wales" to use its speed to escape.

Will the British Empire lose the "Prince of Wales" immediately after losing the "HMS Hood"?

John Rich's forehead was already covered with beads of sweat. After losing the "Hood" and the "Reputation", the ratio of British and German naval strength in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea battlefields has been close to reversal. The Germans now have 3 battleships in service and 4 battlecruisers (actually P-class armored ships) undergoing sea trials, while the British Home Fleet has only 5 battleships left.

If the "Prince of Wales" is also lost, it will be 7:4... The British Empire is really coming to an end!

"Let's get out of here!" John Rich had an idea and thought of a vitality. "Let's go to Lerwick Port. It's safe there. As long as the main force of Fleet A arrives, the Prince of Wales will be saved."

The port of Lerwick is the capital of Shetland, located on the Channel coast between Mainland and Brassey (on Mainland). The length of the strait where Lerwick Port is located is less than 5,000 meters, the entrances at both ends are very narrow, and there are coastal forts blocking the channel. Although the caliber of those shore guns was small and the range was limited, they were still a deterrent to German battleships that dared to approach.

Moreover, the "Prince of Wales" also has 10 14-inch cannons, which is not a vegetarian! If the German battleships dare to get close, these 10 14-inch cannons will definitely let them know how powerful the British Royal Navy is.

"What? What? The Hood was sunk by the Gneisenno? How is this possible?"

On the battleship "Bismarck", Admiral Lütjens was also stunned by the news. That's the "Hood"! If the "Bismarck" and the "Tirpitz" sank it, it would be okay, but how could it be sunk by the "Gneisenno"? It is much more powerful than the "Gneisenno".

"Admiral, you can't be wrong. Major General Bei will not joke about this kind of thing." Colonel Lindemann also found it incredible, but he quickly accepted the fact that the "Hood" was sunk by the "Gneisenno" Great reality.

"Admiral, the British also have a battleship, possibly the King George V class, which has now escaped into Lerwick Port. This is our best chance to sink it!"

"I'm afraid it won't be easy to deal with after escaping into the port of Lerwick, right?" Admiral Lütjens said, "We can only fire outside the strait, and it is difficult to observe the impact point of the shells."

"We can bomb it with planes!" Colonel Lindemann said, "We just need to stay near the port of Lerwick and prevent it from leaving."

"Okay, that's it!" Admiral Lütjens smiled, "We have captured the 'Prince of Wales' now. The British will definitely try their best to rescue them. We are here waiting for the British reinforcements." ! There will definitely be a decisive battle tomorrow!"

…

"The Hood was sunk and the Prince of Wales was surrounded..."

On King Charles Street, in the underground headquarters of the British War Cabinet, British Prime Minister Churchill suddenly felt like the end of the world was coming when he heard the latest war report.

"We must save the 'Prince of Wales'!" the British Prime Minister gritted his teeth and said, "Tell Admiral Tovey that the 'Prince of Wales' must be saved at all costs! And then give the order to the Coast Air Force, and the 'Prince of Wales' must not be allowed to fly under any circumstances." 'Sinked by German planes!'

Churchill's order was quickly issued to the battleship "Nelson". At this time, the commander of the British Home Fleet, Admiral Tovey, had his own thoughts of slapping himself - luring the enemy into trouble! The enemy did not lure it, but the bait was eaten by the enemy. And I still eat one and catch one!

The Hood could not be salvaged, but the Prince of Wales had to bite the bullet and go to rescue it. If the Prince of Wales could not be rescued before dawn, Fleet A would be exposed to the threat of the powerful German bomber group... The German bomber group was much better at dealing with surface ships than their battleships.

If things went wrong, even Fleet A would have to be involved...

"Send a message to Fleet C," Admiral Tovey turned around in the command tower of the Nelson for a few times, and finally remembered that he still had an aircraft carrier to use. "Let Fleet C approach the Shetland Islands at full speed, and send carrier-based aircraft to bomb the German fleet near Lerwick Harbor at dawn!"

"No, before sinking the British aircraft carrier, my carrier-based aircraft will not bomb any British battleship!"

Vice Admiral Helmut Heyer, who commanded the German aircraft carrier formation, also received an order from Admiral Lütjens to dispatch carrier-based aircraft. However, he disagreed to dispatch carrier-based aircraft, on the grounds that he wanted to use carrier-based aircraft to deal with British aircraft carriers first.

"Call Admiral Lütjens back," said Vice Admiral Helmut Heyer, "British aircraft carriers are the biggest threat. If the British want to save the Prince of Wales, they will most likely send out aircraft carriers. This is our chance to sink them!"

After saying this, Vice Admiral Helmut Heyer turned back to Major Max, the aviation staff, and said, "There will definitely be a chance to sink British aircraft carriers after dawn, but we may also be sunk by British carrier-based aircraft! Therefore, I ask the carrier-based aircraft units to first discover British aircraft carriers!"

Helmut Heyer has been commanding aircraft carriers since 1939. After more than a year of war, he has gained some experience and summed up the principle of using aircraft carriers: "find (enemy aircraft carriers) first, strike first, and withdraw after the attack."

And in his opinion, the "Prince of Wales" temporarily trapped in Lerwick Harbor has no value. As long as Fokker Company changes the "Comet" carrier-based dive bomber imported from Japan into the Fokker 100 (actually, it replaces the liquid-cooled engine with an air-cooled engine to improve landing performance), the attack capability of the German aircraft carrier will increase several times. At that time, battleships like the "Prince of Wales" can be dealt with with 500 kg armor-piercing bombs.

In addition, Helmut Heyer also knew that there are several bombs that can be guided by radio remote control that are close to being developed. By 1942 at the latest, Ju88 will be able to carry "remote-controlled bombs" to deal with battleships. There is also a "remote-controlled bomb" with wings and propellers, which may be installed on destroyers. By then, battleships may become outdated...

"Lieutenant General, if you want to ensure that the enemy aircraft carrier is discovered first, then you have to let the Fokker 99 take off before dawn." Major Max quickly proposed a seemingly feasible search plan.

"We can now sail west at full speed for an hour, release 12 Fokker 99s, and then let the aircraft carrier go east and return to the safe area. At the same time, all the remaining 36 Fokker 99s plus the 24 Fokker Zeros used for escort are all put on the deck. Once the British aircraft carrier is found, an air strike will be launched immediately." Taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier at night was originally a unique skill of British carrier-based aircraft, but now those rookie pilots in the UK who often crashed their planes during the day can no longer play this. The skills of the carrier-based aircraft pilots on the German side are becoming more and more advanced, and they have mastered the ability to take off and land aircraft carriers at night. "Okay, let's do it!" Helmut Heyer thought for a few minutes and immediately approved this action plan. The two German aircraft carriers that were originally in the effective cover circle of Bergen shore-based aircraft have escorted their ships and immediately began to turn around and sail west. At the same time, on the aircraft carrier "Royal Ark", Vice Admiral Somerville was working with his staff to formulate an air strike plan to be launched after dawn. Throughout the day on June 10, Somerville's aircraft carrier was ready to go out and sink Germany's "only" aircraft carrier. However, neither British submarines nor British and American reconnaissance aircraft found any trace of the aircraft carrier. So in the end, Somerville believed that the German aircraft carrier had returned home - it was the "only aircraft carrier" of the German, Italian and French navies, and the Germans would definitely not be willing to use it to fight to the death.