Under the sunlight of the North Atlantic in May, three mighty SKC/28 52 times diameter 283mm naval guns were aimed at the target, and under the command of the chief gunner, according to the instructions of the two Fi-156 (stork) observation planes, they quickly rested the ruler, and then suddenly fired out a volley, making a huge roar. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Although the Fi-156 was invented for many years, it was inconspicuous in terms of speed and ceiling, but it possessed unique capabilities that no other aircraft possessed - a stable observation platform and a stall flight speed as low as 56 km/h. In other words, as long as you can fly the plane as fast as a car, he will be able to stay in the air without falling, and every time such a plane is dispatched, it means that the day of suffering for the enemy army has come.

Three 283mm shells flew over the apex of the ballistic parabola, and then continued to bombard US positions in depth -- their maximum range was more than 35 kilometers, and even in the case of indirect fire of more than 25 kilometers, they could still achieve high accuracy.

This kind of shells weighing 300 kilograms each are called pediatrics in the naval field, and they are also included in the category of high-speed light bullets, but their power and range are obviously not something that ordinary army artillery can withstand, and the 155mm Tom howitzer position, which the US Army is most proud of, does not even have the strength to return fire, and is smashed to pieces under the direct hit of the shell.

This was the fire suppression provided by the main guns of the heavy cruiser Lützov, and the sailors used 9 rounds per minute to support the German landing force to advance in depth, and from the first moment of the beach-rushing landing, the scarred Lützov contributed all its strength.

In yesterday's fierce air raid by Britain and the United States, the warship was hit by nearly 20 1,000-pound high-explosive or armor-piercing shells, the rear deck, rear main guns, engines, and power compartment were blown to pieces, the warship faltered, and the sailors on it were also killed and wounded, but even so, this veteran heavy cruiser, which was the first to become an army during the Third Reich's arms expansion war, still did not sink, but struggled to seize the beach, and used the last remaining three main guns to provide all help for the campaign.

Speaking of which, this is the third and last warship lost by the German-class armored ships: the Count of Spaper sank in Uruguay with scars under the encirclement and suppression of superior enemy forces; Admiral Schell suffered heavy losses in the German Azores and subsequent naval battles, and finally ran aground on the Azores beach, where naval forces are still manipulating him to provide naval artillery fire against any possible attack; The Lützov followed in the footsteps of its predecessors today and is ready to make its last use on the beaches of Iceland.

The Hipper-class heavy cruisers were not much better, and three ships of the same class, the Blucher, the Prinz Eugen, and the Sedlitz, were damaged and sunk one after another, and only one ship of the same class, the Hipper, was still in service.

Of course, the Lützov was not all of today's shelling, there were still 4 Veneto-class and 1 Tirpitz on the sea with 380mm heavy guns to provide long-range suppression, and closer to the beachhead, 203mm and 127mm naval guns were also sparing no effort to tilt fire.

The stranded Lützov is not all the German losses, in today's British and American air raids, the two sides once again staged a battle to the death, the British army began to attack in groups one after another in the early morning, a total of 486 bombers and fighters of various types were dispatched throughout the day, the US military dispatched 164 B-29s in the afternoon as usual for long-range attacks, and the German army has been supplemented with more than 240 fighters (47 of which were transferred from the direction of Norway through cross-platform tactical transfer) to intercept, at the heavy cost of 79 aircraft in battle. Shot down 238 British planes (plus 271 planes that could not return due to injuries, lack of range, etc.), and 93 American planes, and won the next day's air defense battle with great difficulty.

In addition to the losses suffered by the aircraft, the German fleet and the landing force paid an extremely heavy price:

The comprehensive aircraft carrier Xiafei was the most sudden because of the landing of the Panzergrenadier Battalion, and was besieged by various enemy planes, and the bombs were hit, and the deck and hull were bombed miserably, and there was no original appearance, and finally it was declared to be grounded and stranded;

The light cruiser Marseillaise (7600-ton La Galisonier-class), acquired from France, was sunk by several 1000-pound bombs;

The Hyuga aircraft carrier suffered heavy damage again, the deck was completely destroyed, the speed dropped to less than 10 knots, and it staggered out of the killing field, and it may not be repaired if it does not continue to lie down for 4-5 months; The R1 escort aircraft carrier was severely damaged by three 1,000-pound bombs, and simply struggled to run aground and calculate, using the ship's 128mm anti-aircraft guns to continue to prop up an air defense umbrella for the landing infantry.

As for the other landing ships, cargo ships transporting supplies, and auxiliary ships, many of them were also damaged, and the Sibel-class tank transport landing ships alone lost seven, and half a battalion of German tanks sank in the coastal waters before they could see Icelandic land. By sunset, Germany had lost nearly half of its aircraft carriers (2 large carriers and 4 escort carriers), and its most valuable carrier-based pilots had lost nearly a quarter.

But all this cost was worth it, because the armored instructor and the Ceylon brigade of the Navy had officially landed successfully.

In the face of air attacks by hundreds of naval guns and hundreds of aircraft, the Anglo-American Allied forces, which had 80,000 garrisons, had no naval cover, no solid shore fire resistance, and no adequate beachhead anti-landing system. In the Anglo-American logic of war, it has always been believed that the Axis could not land in Iceland, and even if the Germans wanted to land in Great Britain or Ireland, they would not think about Iceland, and only when they found the imposing Axis Fleet, they struggled to deploy some defensive systems, but it turned out to be completely useless.

"We had no planes, no artillery fire, no strong permanent fortifications capable of countering the overwhelming bombardment and shelling of the Germans...... Iceland is a sea of fire, and he is immersed in a pool of blood! Smith sent desperate telegrams to Washington and London, but no one could help.

General Arnold's ground aviation could no longer assemble more than 100 B-29 formations; Under the fierce air raids of up to 7,000 sorties continued by the German army the next day, all aviation forces have been completely paralyzed, and today's more than 400 planes are only the last bleak blow!

With a "bang", the front hatch of a Sibel tank landing craft was lowered heavily, and six Leopard tanks immediately rushed out of it, roaring towards the beachhead, and on the other side, the same tank landing craft docked, but it was not a tank that came down, but a Sdkfz.251 armored vehicle equipped with heavily armed infantry - this is a half-track armored vehicle that has experienced the test of the North African desert and has great adaptability to the beachhead. Whirlwinds, ball lightning and even Himmler's organ emerged from the landing craft and swooped down on the designated target.

Compared with the United States, which has developed a variety of large and small landing craft in history, Germany is not so pretentious, nor is it capable of developing so many landing equipment -- this is not only a great test for organization and scheduling, but also even more unfavorable for production.

The official name of this large landing craft is Sibel-800 class landing transport boat, or European standard landing transport boat, the principle is the same as the early small Sibel boat, but the size and scale are much larger, the standard displacement is more than 800 tons, so it is called the 800 class, using two Germania M6V supercharged diesel engines - this is also the power source used by VII-class submarines, many of which are even directly dismantled from submarines.

Under the influence of Hoffmann, the Ministry of Armaments changed the previous idea of developing different components when designing a model, and made the most of careful planning and standardization, and in many cases even began to go crazy. This powerline, which has a total power of almost 3,000 hp, allows the landing craft to achieve a top speed of 20 knots and a range of 2,000 nautical miles. Germany has a large number of ready-made engines, which can be done as long as the industrialized countries of Europe provide the hull equipment.

In order to enhance the defensive and suppressive capabilities of the landing craft, the German side also carried out ingenious modifications -- after a large number of captured Sherman tanks were removed from the turrets and used as service vehicles, those turrets were not abandoned, some of them were installed on the island's defensive positions as fortifications, and some of them were directly installed on the Sibel-800 class landing craft, with four guns per landing craft. ”

Since the captured tank turret could be loaded, the captured 12.7mm Browning heavy machine gun should be loaded, so 4 more heavy machine guns were added, and 36 rocket launchers were installed on the bulkheads on both sides of the ship, intending to put a firework before rushing to the beach.

As night fell, the Germans further accelerated the pace of the landing, and Rommel who stayed on the Tirpitz with Vice Admiral Bey was very satisfied, although he was heartbroken by the loss of more than 2,000 officers and men and a large amount of equipment and supplies due to the air raid before he even went ashore, but he was very satisfied with the effective offensive of the naval guns and the fact that the beachhead was unhindered - he had prepared for a hard battle on the beachhead, at least nearly a thousand people would die, and now it seems that this loss could be avoided, and the landing speed would be accelerated.

Vice Admiral Pei was also very satisfied with this rhythm, although the aircraft carrier suffered a bit of losses, but facts proved that it was impossible to sink the rough-skinned battleship without torpedoes and only horizontal aerial bombs.

He even scolded the Americans for idiots: "There are no mines in the sea, no fortifications on the beachhead, and no mines on land...... Who do Americans think they are? ”

Smith must have burst into tears if he heard this: Iceland is a transit point for material dispatch, how can it be possible to lay mines? As for the mines, there is some stock, but unfortunately it was never thought of to set them up - what if the bombing injures the American GIs and the Icelandic people?