In the early hours of March 16, just after dawn, the Imperial Army and Navy launched an attack in northeastern Iceland according to the scheduled plan of Operation Whaling Ship.

In early spring, the snow and ice in Iceland are just beginning to melt, and the snow-covered mountains of Iceland are desolate.

With the icebreaker in the open way, the landing force landed first in Sauls on the Fontier peninsula.

More than 800 officers and men of the 1st Battalion of the 139th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Mountain Division, which was the first to land, actually passed over the ice. There was no West Franconian army stationed here, and after communicating with the local population, the Imperial landing force easily occupied the area.

The only battle took place in Vupner Bay, where a company of the West Frankish Army was stationed in the port of Vupnafjord, and the 138th Regiment met with fierce resistance after landing. Comparatively speaking, the Imperial mountain troops, who trained in the mountains of the Northeast for many years, were better adapted to fighting in Iceland's icy mountainous terrain than the Europeans.

Under the cover of the fire of the destroyer fleet, the West Francians quickly gave up their resistance, and the Don army still occupied the fishing port with a little difficulty. By daybreak, sporadic fighting was over, and three fjords in northeastern Iceland were occupied by the Don army.

When the news of the Tang Army's presence in Iceland broke, West Francia and the North American Confederation were shocked.

Iceland is concerned with the safety of the North Atlantic shipping route of the North American Federation, and if it is lost, then this sea transportation line may be cut off by the Imperial Navy at any time. At the wartime Cabinet Operations Meeting, Prime Minister Fauci asked the Royal Navy to make an all-out attack to prevent the landing of the Don Army in Iceland.

Admiral Kubert, commander of the West Francian Home Fleet, was a little apprehensive about the call for help from Iceland. The Royal Navy had already suffered from the bombers of the Imperial Navy's air forces, and the aircraft carriers of West Francia were now completely inferior to the aircraft carriers of the Reichs, both in terms of quantity and quality. He was now ordered to gather the already insufficient fleet strength to attack the Imperial landing fleet, and if he was not careful, he might even lose all the existing capital of the royal navy.

Maybe this war was a mistake from the start!

He was now very worried about the future of the war in the European Union.

The sea around Iceland is covered with snowflakes and the sea is dark and dark. The undulating black waves, together with the gloomy sky, form a gray space that makes people feel visually distorted, and people can't help but feel a great oppression.

The rumbling of cannon on the surface of the sea gradually subsided.

The rain and snow in the sky are falling all the time, and the constant waves are a serious drain on the physical strength of those who fall into the water, and the water temperature is very low, only about 5 degrees, which makes the sailors who are struggling in the water feel more difficult. Wearing orange life jackets, they try to keep their balance, but they don't know where to swim.

Not far from them, the hull of a slender light cruiser was already heavily tilted, and the deck was less than a meter from the water. The British cruiser's sharp scissor-shaped bow rose upwards from the sea, its entire bridge almost enveloped in intense flames, and billowing black smoke billowed from the rear of the ship.

The shelling of the Imperials had stopped, and in the distance, several Imperial destroyers were flying at high speed with their searchlights on their headlights.

Lieutenant Colonel Huntington, who was immersed in the water, looked back at the cruiser "Cherbourg" that he had fought for before, and his expression couldn't help but be gloomy. At the moment when he joined the glorious royal navy, how could he have imagined that such an old cruiser built in the West Francian Kingdom during the First World War would be surrounded by four capital ships of the Tang Imperial Navy. I don't know if I should be proud or sad to command such an old ship armed with only 6-inch guns to stubbornly resist the attack from two Imperial battleships and two heavy cruisers.

In the open sea, where the large-caliber naval guns of the Tang Empire are still bombarded, the "Lorraine" patrolling with the "Cherbourg" is fleeing in disarray, and the rising European navy has once again begun to launch a formal challenge to the Tang Empire since the last World War of West Africa.

Moreover, this time, it was the Tang people who took the initiative to provoke it.

Due to Iceland's important geographical location, the royal navy had to fight head-on.

Admiral Xie Zhaokun and Captain Hoffman stood on the bridge of the flagship "Songshan", looking energetically at the faint light of fire coming from the misty sea in the distance. In such weather, it is impossible to detect the opponent by sight, and the short artillery battle just now was actually completed under the command of the firing radar.

After replacing the new SMStak40 new shipborne radar, the warship's radar fire control performance has completely surpassed the original optical instruments.

At this time, a radio officer came to report to them.

"Sir, the West Francian cruiser that escaped just now regularly sends a report every ten minutes, and it has not stopped, it should be news about our course and position."

"That's for sure." Xie Zhaokun said to Hoffman, "We need it to do this, otherwise even it was sunk just now, what news is there from General Chen Shiying?" ”

"The landing went smoothly, and there were basically no arrivals." The communications officer replied that "the second convoy of transport ships transporting the landing force has already departed from Norway." ”

"Well, we need to attract the main fleet of West Francia to us." Admiral Xie Zhaokun said indifferently, "The main fleet of West Francia has already been dispatched?" ”

"Yes, sir. However, due to the weather, we were unable to determine their location. The communications officer replied.

"It's too bad that our superior air force is no longer needed, and it is possible that they will arrive here at night." Xie Zhaokun frowned and said.

"Are we meeting with General Chen Shiying as planned?" Hoffmann said with some trepidation, "The West Franks have 9 battleships and 2 battlecruisers, and we don't have much advantage in an artillery battle. ”

Xie Zhaokun turned to Hoffman and said, "Of course, do you think they can really stop us?" ”

"If the weather improves, we can easily crush them!" Hoffman thought for a moment before replying.

"We may have to fight the West Francians, but we will not back down, if it is an artillery battle, the West Francians will not be able to defeat us easily, as long as we have full control of Iceland, then no convoy will dare to operate between the United States and West Francia easily." Xie Zhaokun said firmly.