Black clouds were rolling in, torrential rain was pouring down, and the Norwegian Sea in the north, near midnight, suddenly became suddenly manic. Huge waves crashed against the steel side of the warship, stirring up thousands of snow foam and white mist.

"The news has just come from Wilhelmshaven that Britain has sent a sternly worded official note to Germany, and I am afraid that it will not be long before Britain declares war on us." In the navigation room of the Bismarck battleship, Fang Yan handed a telegram to the fleet commander Bo Mei, and said with a solemn expression. He had already understood this outcome in his heart, and the Polish campaign would almost certainly be the direct trigger for World War II.

Under the dim light, Bomei's scholarly Confucian face was slightly pale. Although he had expected such an outcome, when he was about to stand in the ring of a duel with his old rival, the British Royal Navy, his state of mind was still like a storm on the current sea, shaking and confused. After all, on paper, the current gap between the British and German navies is by no means a star and a half: the ratio of the number of capital ships on both sides is 15:2, the number of aircraft carriers is 7:5, the number of cruisers is 37:9, and the number of destroyers is 112:32, and only Germany has more submarines. Although our fleet has undergone large-scale technological and tactical innovations, its actual efficiency has not yet been truly tested under the pressure of a strong enemy!

Compared with Bermay's reticence, the captain of the Bismarck, Lindemann, was ready to go. The ship below him gave him unprecedented confidence, and he was confident that he could crush all British resistance. I saw him swing his fist fiercely, and the essence in his eyes flashed: "The time for revenge has finally arrived." Britain committed an unforgivable heinous crime against Germany, strangling our first rise in the cradle of growth by ferocious and vicious means; All the suffering that Germany has suffered over the past 25 years must be repaid to them this time! ”

Bo Mei slowly put the telegram in his hand into the dark blue pupils of the steel table that shook with the ship. It gradually returned to the peace and calm of normal times. After all, he is not a forward-looking and indecisive personality, and when faced with unprecedented challenges, he can only fight to meet them and do his best to win that glory and victory. Breathing deeply, Bome gave the order to turn to accelerate, and soon, the fleet responded accordingly.

The surging waves are still raging and roaring. The entire sea was swept up and down, but for the German warships that had refilled the oil depots, they were no longer afraid to sail in such bad sea conditions, which would consume far more fuel than normal. On 24 August, the German ocean-going fleet, which had penetrated deep into Norwegian waters, met the oil tanker that had departed earlier; After completing the replenishment, the three Pocket Cruisers broke through into the Atlantic, while the rest remained on standby in the depths of Norwegian waters until 1 September.

In order to avoid encounters with ships of other countries, the German fleet was now in a hidden area. It is 1200 km from Scapa Bay. Even the carrier-based aircraft of the German aircraft carrier, which has a combat radius of more than 350 kilometers, needs to sail for a long time to reach the offensive position. Thus, although the present British note to the German government was merely a note, with neither a time limit nor a clear threat, the German fleet resolutely marched towards Scapa Bay when it was already possible to judge the final battle and outcome.

Standing in the navigation room of the Bismarck, Fang Yan was full of ambition that the combat operation was being carried out according to his plan. In his memory. Britain declared war on Germany on the morning of September 3, which meant that he would have eight hours to fight. Carry out a fierce attack on Scarpa Bay during the day on the 3rd!

The wind subsided, the waves subsided, and seven hours later, a ray of morning light could be seen on the eastern horizon. The German fleet sailed out of the cloud and rain area where it had been hiding for several days, and immediately dispersed the three heavy cruisers to provide evasion warning for the aircraft carriers. What made Fang Yan feel gratified. There are really very few ships in the Norwegian Sea. During the entire daytime voyage, only three small targets were detected on the radars of all the battleships, and their course did not conflict with the German fleet, passing by at a great distance. By the time night fell again, the German fleet had reduced the distance in a straight line to 650 kilometers from Scapa Bay. As long as it was half a further advance, the guilty nest of the British fleet would be under a direct blow from the German carrier-based aviation.

"Dr. Muller, tomorrow should be good weather in this area, right?" Fang Yan came to the office of the Meteorological Bureau on the ship and asked a short and fat old man with a big belly. If nothing else, tomorrow will be the day of the attack. The old man named Muller looked at the numbers of several measuring instruments on the wall, and his words were a little uncertain: "From the current situation, there should be no winds above level 5 and fog with visibility below 15 kilometers tomorrow. However, the currents are active during this season, and it is easy to see waves of more than 3.5 meters. If God forbid, the wave height may be as high as 2.5 meters tomorrow, but any lower is unlikely. ”

Fang Yan saluted and thanked the old man, and couldn't help but feel a little nervous in his heart. In addition to strong winds, showers, and dense fog, waves are also a factor that determines whether carrier-based aircraft can be dispatched normally. If the waves are too large and the roll of the aircraft carrier itself exceeds a certain limit, then the carrier-based aircraft will not be able to take off and land normally on the flight deck. Therefore, if the weather is bad tomorrow, our fleet will have to retreat north, and then try to return to attack south the day after tomorrow. In this way, it is easy to cause the delay of the fighters, so that the final results are much less than the expected results.

"I wonder what the weather will be like tomorrow in Scarpa's Bay?" Fang Yan put aside his worries about the waves for the time being, and walked quickly to the telecommunications room above. Several officers and men wearing microphones were listening intently to the radio waves from all sides, and were using the typewriters in front of them to record the information one by one. However, this time, Fang Yan did not have the idea of asking Wilhelmshaven or Heydrich for help, but directly eavesdropping on the Scottish radio and getting the weather forecast information from the harbor town of Vic. The town is only a few dozen kilometers from Scarpa's Bay, and its weather is basically not far from Scarpa's Bay.

After waiting quietly for two hours, Fang Yan finally got the information he wanted. There will be no rain or fog in Vic Town tomorrow, which makes Fang Yan regain some comfort and confidence. He informed Berme of this information and put forward his own operational plan: tomorrow the fleet would be approached 450 kilometers from Scarpa Bay, and the fighters would be ready in advance. As soon as there was an opportunity to attack, the fleet immediately approached south at a speed of 30 knots (56 km/h) and prepared torpedo bombers. In this way, after two hours, the aircraft carrier will be ready to arrive at the attack position. And the first round of attack waves can be released in an ideal state.

"Just follow your plan." Bo Mei did not object to this tactic, perhaps in his heart, he had long realized that this young man's aviation combat skills were better than those of himself who were born in traditional gunboats. At midnight, Bo Mei went straight to sleep again, but Fang Yan was not tired, and he looked energetic under the improvement of the strong coffee. This is not only because tomorrow he is expected to completely rewrite history, but also because he has obtained temporary command of this huge fleet totaling more than 200,000 tons!

The waves danced, the sea breeze whimpered, and in the early hours of September 3, the distance between the German fleet and Scapa Bay was finally reduced to 500 kilometers in a straight line. The sea was still an endless surging deep blue, unchanged for eternity, but through the marks on the chart and the proofreading of the sextant, Fang Yan was able to determine that he was not far from the English port at the northern tip of Scotland.

When the morning glow gushed out from the eastern sea level again, Fang Yan couldn't wait to widen his bloodshot but brighter starry eyes, and kept scanning the sea and sky. He was pleased to find that the sky was blue and clear, and the clouds were sparse, which was very suitable for the weather for airplanes; Although the waves are turbulent on the sea, the maximum roll of several aircraft carriers is kept within 7 degrees, and they are completely able to take off and land fighters normally!

"The air fleet begins to rearmament fighters!" After a while, Fang Yan gave the first formal order in his duty process in a slightly trembling voice. His hands were clenched into fists, and his thin red lips had lost their brightness because they were tightly pursed. At this time, Fang Yan was in a state of physical fatigue and consciousness that was excited and sharp, as if he had never been so energetic. He looked excitedly at the fighter figures that appeared on the decks of each aircraft carrier, although he couldn't see it clearly, Fang Yan already felt the passionate aura that was about to soar into the sky.

"Jonas, aren't you going to rest?" Lindeman, who was in a straight military uniform, appeared beside Fang Yan and asked with some surprise. Fang Yan smiled, shook his head, and said, "Your Excellency, I want to witness this great attack with my own eyes. Because it won't be long before a new mode of naval warfare will be born in our hands. ”

Lindemann's brows furrowed slightly, and he was quite unimpressed by these words. Not to mention that there is no news from Wilhelmshaven at the moment, just Fang Yan's elevation of the aviation force to such a high position made him, the commander of the battleship, feel uncomfortable. In Lindemann's mind, the aircraft carrier was nothing more than an auxiliary weapon accompanying the main fleet, and then engaging in a sneak attack like it was now, compared to the Bismarck's 450 mm main gun. If it weren't for Fang Yan's design of two classic cruisers, and thus directly laid the technical foundation of the Bismarck-class, Lindemann might have had to have a good theory with the barbarian aviation party in front of him.

A few minutes later, Bo Mei also came to the sailing room after breakfast. There was an inexplicable silence in the room as people waited for the exact news from Wilhelmshaven. If there is no clear order to attack by 3 o'clock this afternoon, then the fleet will have to turn north and come again tomorrow morning. As the clock ticked to 9:23 a.m., an urgent message suddenly came from the telegraph room: Britain had issued an ultimatum to Germany at 9 a.m. to withdraw its troops from Poland within two hours, otherwise war would be declared on Germany!

"This moment has finally come." Fang Yan exhaled a long breath, his expression was complicated, and he didn't know whether it was relaxation, ecstasy, or bitterness and helplessness about the spread of the war. (To be continued.) )