The Rise of the Third Reich

Boom boom boom...

The salvo of 54 15-inch (380mm) cannons really shook the earth! General Karls and Colonel Wagner both clung to the telescopes. Inside the lens was the huge body of a British battleship under a dazzling muzzle flash and flares.

The British and German fleets hit each other's heads with flares almost simultaneously. What was illuminated on the British side was the battleship Ramillies. On the German side, the flagship Friedrich I was exposed to a pale light.

The first wave of shells fired by the British fell, and the nearest one was even 50 meters away from the starboard side of the Friedrich I. Water droplets more than ten meters high rose into the sky, and huge waves even reached the deck.

Even Admiral Karls, who had participated in the Battle of Jutland, was frightened by the scene in front of him and took a breath - there is really no weapon in the world that can compete with the battleship's main gun, not even the V3 missile. It is possible to create such a magnificent scene.

Unfortunately, the era of battleships has passed, and the future belongs to aircraft and missiles. It is precisely because of seizing this trend of change that the German Navy was able to revive and have a brilliant future.

Raindrops of shells fell again, and dozens of huge water columns rose up near the starboard side of the three P-class guided missile cruisers. At this time, the main guns of the three P-class ships on the sea also fired. Since one of the Maria Teresa's turrets was destroyed in an air strike on May 2, only 5 turrets with a total of 15 280mm cannons can be fired. The momentum cannot be compared with the British's 54 16-inch cannons.

Seeing the Germans' feeble counterattack, General John Tovey immediately felt relieved. This time I can finally sink the German battlecruisers, at least 2! This will block Ireland for at least a week... With this precious week, the British Army can eliminate every German parachuted in Ireland.

Today's naval battle may become a turning point in World War II!

Boom! Boom!

Two loud earthquake-shaking noises came in succession, interrupting Admiral John Tovey's thoughts. He quickly raised his telescope and looked forward, wanting to see the tragic situation of the German battlecruiser that had been shot, but there appeared What was in the eyepiece was an intact battlecruiser.

How is this going? When he was wondering, someone around him was already shouting.

"The Ramillies! The Ramillies exploded!"

What! ? When John Tovey heard this, he almost stopped holding the telescope in his hand. He quickly turned to the direction of the Ramillies, only to see that the entire hull of the 30,000-ton battleship was enveloped in fire and the hull was tilted to the port side. It was tilted severely, and it seemed that a shell had penetrated its armor below the waterline!

This is ridiculous! Admiral Tovey could not believe his eyes. How could a battleship like the Ramillies be hit like this by a 280mm cannon? It seems that this kind of damage can only be caused by the 80,000-ton Japanese super battleship arriving in the Atlantic Ocean and using a 460mm caliber cannon. Did Japan's super battleship reach the Atlantic Ocean? But I didn’t see the muzzle flash of the 460mm cannon.

"Admiral!" Mountbatten, Chief of Staff of the Home Fleet, shouted at this time, "The Ramillies reported that they were hit by two Dreadnought missiles!"

"What? Dreadnought missiles?" Admiral Tovey felt even more ridiculous now. Have the Nazis gone crazy? Do they need to work so hard now? The war situation is obviously more favorable to them!

"Commander, the Germans have retreated, and they are evacuating at high speed!"

Admiral Tovey heard someone shouting again, and he hurriedly raised his binoculars to look. Sure enough, the German battlecruiser under the flares had disappeared in a large smoke, apparently retreating under the cover of smoke bombs.

What the hell is going on? Why do the Germans always retreat and then come back? What tactic is this?

The British admiral certainly didn't expect that the Germans temporarily evacuated because the missile loading method was too troublesome, but now he also felt that something was wrong, something very wrong!

First, three heavy cruisers were severely damaged (they are still burning at sea, but they can no longer hold on), and then the battleship Ramillies was severely damaged, and they were hit by dreadnought aircraft... It seems that those three heavy cruisers were severely damaged. Yang was also injured by Wuweishi's plane!

So...are there still Dreadnoughts in the sky right now?

Thinking of this, Admiral Tovey no longer had any fighting spirit. The Germans have such a huge advantage and are still not afraid of death with fearless attacks. What else can the British Empire do? It seems that I can only live in Canada for the rest of my life...

Just when Admiral Tovey was about to order a retreat, there was another loud noise on the sea, and then someone shouted: "The Ramillis' ammunition depot exploded, God, it's finished!"

The Ramillies is finished, and it seems the Royal Navy is almost finished too! Admiral Tovey's heart was extremely heavy. He looked at the battleship not far away, half of the hull had fallen into the sea, but the bow was raised high. He sighed deeply and gave the order for everyone to retreat.

…

"The Ramillies was sunk, the Cavendish was sunk, the Berwick was sunk, the Hawkins was sunk...

Moreover, the mine-laying operation outside Cork Bay was unsuccessful. After defeating the main force of the Home Fleet, the German fleet went outside Cork Bay, attacked Fleet B which was laying mines, and sank the Adventure. "

First Sea Lord Dudley Pound said this, glanced at the expressionless Churchill, and said: "Admiral Tovey has submitted his resignation after returning to the Firth of Clyde."

"I understand." Churchill nodded. "The Admiralty can approve his resignation... Then let Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Fraser replace him. In addition, is the Firth of Clyde safe now? Will it need to be transferred? Home Fleet?”

"You can move to Lorne Bay, which is more than a hundred kilometers north."

In fact, the Bay of Lorne is not much safer than the Bay of Clyde. Once Germany captures the island of Ireland and deploys a large number of aircraft on the island, the British Home Fleet will not have a safe port on the mainland. By then, the local fleet will probably become the Canadian fleet. And the people in this conference room can only leave their home country in despair and move to Canada on the other side of the Atlantic to die their old age.

"Okay, let's go to Lorne Bay, which is close to Fort William." Churchill only said half of what he said. The other half is to "facilitate the transfer of His Majesty the King and the Cabinet from Fort William to Canada by boat."

The transfer to Canada seemed inevitable, but Churchill was still unwilling to give up his efforts until the last moment.

"Well, after all, we dealt a heavy blow to Nazi Germany in the English Channel, causing them to lose two aircraft carriers and a battlecruiser, and dozens of troop transports and cargo ships were sunk."

Churchill said in a very majestic and reassuring tone: "Our victory in the English Channel and the victories that the Royal Navy's submarine force and mine force have achieved or will achieve are of decisive significance. These victories will save the Irish people from The iron heel of the Nazis will ensure that the land of Ireland will always be bathed in democracy, freedom and..."

"Mr. Prime Minister."

At this moment, Deputy Prime Minister Attlee suddenly opened the door of the conference room and walked in. Because he was the leader of the British Labor Party, he still had some friendship with the leader of the Irish Republican Party. He had been looking for ways to contact the Irish Prime Minister Attlee last night. Monte de Valera. But looking at the frustrated expression on his face now, everyone knows the result.

"There is no other way. The Prime Minister of Ireland told me that the German fleet has entered the Bay of Cork, and the number of German troops in Ireland now exceeds 50,000! The Irish government has to cooperate with the Germans..."

50000! ? There are so many?

The faces of the senior cabinet officials present here became even uglier. 50,000 Nazis armed to the teeth have arrived on the island of Ireland! What to do now? The total strength of the British army in Northern Ireland is only a few hundred thousand, and there are only a few hundred tanks. How can they defeat 50,000 Nazi supermen?

"Why only 50,000?"

After hearing Churchill's question, Viscount Brooke, the Imperial Chief of Staff, had the urge to leave his job and go farming in Canada.

What does it mean to have only 50,000? You thought it was Italian? That's the Germanic Nazi Superman! 50,000 is not enough?

"Not enough!" Churchill said, "At least 150,000!"

150000? Viscount Brooke said in his heart that 150,000 Montgomerys must be taken as prisoners...

"There are also 1,000 No. 4 tanks and No. 3 assault guns!" Churchill continued, "If you tell the outside world this, Stalin will definitely believe it. The Germans paid such a high price and even sunk two aircraft carriers. How could they only Transporting 30,000 people? At least 100,000 people will be transported, and an armored force will be transported to Ireland soon...According to intelligence, they are already on the way, so Ireland will soon become the leader of the world's anti-Nazi and anti-fascist war. battlefield!"

As soon as Fatty Qiu said these words, the British cabinet ministers and the leaders of the navy, army and air force in the room suddenly understood. This is for the Red Tsar in Moscow. The 150,000 Nazis arriving in Ireland now are just the beginning. In the long run, there must be 1 million or 1.5 million! This is like the main battlefield. If most of the Nazi troops were contained in Ireland, the Soviet Red Army could open a second battlefield on the Eastern Front.

"Mr. Prime Minister," Viscount Brooke immediately suggested, "the 12th Army should be expanded into the 12th Group Army, and additional troops should be announced for Ireland."

Churchill nodded, "Now set up the Irish Army Group to be at the same level as the Home Defense Command. The commander-in-chief can be Harold Alexander, commander of the 1st Army, and he can be promoted to general to show the strength of the Irish battlefield. importance."