The night was as dark as ink, the waves were rolling and a faint fleet quietly appeared in the waters north of Denmark. The howling winds drowned out their mechanical noises as they headed north along the Norwegian coastline.

Inside one of the majestic battleships, the generals gathered in a slightly compact conference room. General Kars, with his rough eyebrows and eyes, sat at the top, and on the left and right sides sat several front-line commanding generals such as Machar, Bomay, and Bonth. Under the gaze of everyone, Kars took out a hard book with top secret words on the cover from the file bag, and opened the eagle emblem on a red background at the cover, and its contents appeared in front of everyone's eyes.

"The naval command ordered the operation, codenamed Berlin, to unite all ships and aircraft operating in the Atlantic to intercept all ships entering the east of the North Atlantic." Kars glanced at the audience, and explained the battle deployment that had been kept secret for many days to everyone in front of him, "The fleet plans to sail south of Iceland into the Atlantic, and then form three mixed battle groups with other surface ships that have broken up in the Atlantic. These three battle groups will patrol from north to south, respectively in the corresponding areas on the map, and together with submarines and long-range shore-based reconnaissance aircraft, they will eventually pull out a maritime blockade line that spans more than 2,000 kilometers. ”

Mashal and the others quickly scanned the plan documents in front of them, and they all saw a sudden change from each other's faces. Before the fleet departed, they wondered why so many front-line commanders were asked to go with the ship. It turned out that this time the Navy Command actually played the idea of dividing the troops, preparing to carry out an all-round hunt in the vast and vast North Atlantic!

As the reading deepened, more detailed deployments were also mastered by them. After the division of the fleet, the 9th battle group was personally commanded by Admiral Karls, with 1 battleship, 1 light aircraft carrier, 2 pocket battle cruisers, and 5 armored overdrives; The commander of the 4th battle group was Machar, commanding 1 battleship, 2 heavy cruisers, and 4 armored overdrives. The 7th battle group in the middle is led by Bome, with 2 heavy aircraft carriers, 2 heavy cruisers, and 8 armored overdrives. In addition to this, there are more than 50 submarines that are their smart eyes and ears and sharp daggers.

Seeing this deployment, several commanders who had fought old battles immediately understood the essence of this operation. The area where the Kars fleet was hunting was on the main shipping routes of Britain and North America, so its gunboat detachments needed to be strong enough to deter in the face of various situations and imaginary enemies. The addition of that one light aircraft carrier can greatly enrich its reconnaissance range and strike means, and it is the most ideal force multiplier.

In contrast, the direction of the Azores to the south, although less important, was also a central artery for the British Empire's imports. India's grain, Middle Eastern's oil, Australia's minerals, South America's livestock, and Africa's raw materials all have to be transported between the Azores and Portugal. The merchant ships coming from these places lacked effective protection, and in the past, only 1~2 old Revengeance-class battleships were struggling to support the overall situation. If Machar could lead the fleet in place, it would be a plough and a plough to level the sea there.

Normally, the Machar battle group would also need one aircraft carrier to provide air support, but this time, the reconnaissance and support missions will be carried out by land-based aviation. According to the plan, the German Navy has deployed more than 30 F-200s with a range of 7,000 kilometers on the west coast of France to detect the enemy and guide warships to attack. In addition, the Army's 3rd Air Fleet is also a strong backing for the Machar battle group, which has more than 400 twin-engine combat aircraft of various types, capable of delivering lethal strikes against targets up to 500 kilometers away.

As for the Bomay battle group in the center, it was no surprise that it undertook the important mission of countering the British fleet. Once the German navy tightened its ropes in the North Atlantic, the British would not sit idly by, and they still had a powerful fleet of 2 battle cruisers and 10 heavy cruisers, which could not be ignored or underestimated. With this in mind, the two heavy aircraft carriers of the German fleet were placed in the middle of the support to the north and south flanks at will, and with the 240 aircraft they carried, it was enough to defeat the British fleet that dared to attack.

"According to reliable information sent back by the 'Rhine', the new British aircraft carrier Tejas was officially completed and commissioned two months ago. While it is unlikely that the British will put their newly completed ships into battle, we still have to be prepared for possible contingencies. If a British monoplane is spotted in the open sea, a search should be launched immediately as planned, with the fleet taking the destruction of the British aircraft carrier as the primary objective. ”

Kars solemnly opened his mouth to admonish, causing everyone to say yes. To this day, even the most conservative traditional officers in the German Navy have to admit the objective fact that aircraft carriers have become the core of naval warfare - if the previous sneak attack on Scapa Bay was due to chance, then the course and outcome of the Norwegian naval battle completely established the decisive position of the air force in the decisive battle of the fleet!

However, if Britain had no aircraft carriers to go out, the entire North Atlantic would have been a stage for the German fleet to gallop. The German commanders only had to take advantage of their air superiority as much as possible, and the British Navy would be no less difficult to turn the tables with a surface assault than it would be to counterattack the continent.

Because the Norwegian naval battle had proven that it was difficult to leave a fast enemy fleet bent on running away with surface ships alone: the latter would only need to release smoke in time and fire a wave of torpedoes at the pursuer's route, and the former would have to spend time evading it, and the hit rate of the shelling during this period would drop dramatically. Unless the pursuer has a speed advantage of more than 3 knots, it will be extremely difficult to bite the target. And the German fleet obviously did not have the attribute of slowness.

Thinking about this, the confident look gradually returned to the faces of Mashal and the others. Seeing the change in the mood of his generals, Kars didn't plan to say anything more - they were all veteran elites who had served in the fleet for many years, and they had already mastered all kinds of command qualities, and it seemed too deliberate to emphasize too much emphasis on the British. After a pause, Kars began to mention another aspect: "In this operation, we also need to pay attention to the issue of conflict with the United States. ”

"Three days ago, the U.S. Navy recognized the waters east of 41 degrees west longitude and north of 32 degrees north latitude as a war zone. But there is still a possibility that U.S. warships and merchant ships will intrude into the area and interfere with our normal operations. Therefore, the Führer ordered that actions must be taken strictly in accordance with the steps of the ships flying the American flag in the zone of engagement. Only after its identity has been established as a British ship can it be attacked without restriction. Kars said in a serious tone.

Bo Mei, who was tall and thin, frowned, and said in a deep voice: "But in this way, our efficiency of breaking diplomatic relations cannot be guaranteed at all. In today's environment, almost all British merchant ships and small warships, which lack the ability to protect themselves, will fly the American flag. There was not much difference in the appearance of the destroyers built by Britain and the United States during the war, and if the British sailors had camouflaged the ships again, it would have been difficult for our pilots to detect anything unusual even if they had come up close to observe. Not to mention the fact that the Americans also sold the British 50 four-chimney flat-deck destroyers, while the same ships the US Navy had another 150. As for merchant ships, it is even more impossible to distinguish between nationalities. ”

Machar nodded, "Herman (Bomay) is right. What would we do if an all-American-flagged convoy entered the war zone? A direct attack is not possible, and boarding and inspection is not feasible - with escort warships present, it is difficult to carry out any inspection, not to mention that those warships are most likely British ships in disguise, and they are too close to each other to be vulnerable to deadly torpedo attacks. ”

Speaking of this, Machar's face was full of pain and anxiety: "It is precisely based on these factors that the warships that our army hunted in the Atlantic Ocean regrettably let go of too much prey, and can only pick those merchant ships that sail alone or do not escort warships." This time the main force of the fleet gathered in the Atlantic, how can they still hold back like before? ”

In the face of the opposition and doubts of the two, Karls explained: "This time is different. Under the pressure of German force and the cries for justice in the United States, Roosevelt, the traitor of war, had recognized the existence of a war zone, which legally allowed us to use force against unscrupulous American ships. The Führer's demand is for us to strictly observe the procedure for the use of force. ”

"For warships whose true identities cannot be determined in the combat zone, they will be ordered to leave first, and then warned with live ammunition, and if they still do not comply, they will directly open fire and attack. It is important that every effort must be made to save the crew of the warship. If the Americans were really hit, they could make the rescued crew confess their guilt, so as to stop the White House's mouth, which bites like mad dogs. However, I believe that the vast majority of those caught will be British sailors. ”

Hearing Kars's words, Bo May's eyes suddenly lit up. Yes, as long as the prisoners are finally caught, they can determine the nationality of the sunken ship, not only do they know whether they hit the Americans or not, but they can also avoid the White House splashing dirty water to incite public opinion. Although it was still a little troublesome to do so, and it could not be slapped flat directly with the carrier-based aircraft, it was finally able to tear through the shameless camouflage of the British and really put the rope around their necks.

As for the screening of merchant ships, as long as the escort warship dies, can the merchant ship still be able to escape? Even if there were more than 40 members of the transport fleet, the German fleet would be able to check all the water meters one by one with a fleet of submarines. This seems to be very inefficient, but the consequences of this are also unbearable for Britain: as long as 2~3 fleets are destroyed, all fleets that need to pass through this sea area will be at risk, and large-scale shipping paralysis is inevitable. As an island nation that had to import more than 4 million tons of supplies every month before the war, how long could Britain hold out in the face of suffocation? ()

Please remember that the first domain name of this book is:. Mobile version reading URL: