At 9:55 a.m. on August 25, at the observation deck of the exercise outside the port of Kiel.

Field Marshal Raeder, commander of the German Navy, Admiral Schneidwin, chief of the General Staff of the German Navy, Vice Admiral Lütjens, commander of the High Seas Fleet, and Colonel Leibniz, deputy chief of staff of the German naval aviation, gathered together.

Field Marshal Raeder stood at the front of the crowd, whispering to Schniedwin, Lütjens, and others around him from time to time, until Leibniz's voice came to his ears.

"The departments participating in the exercise are ready, and the exercise can start on time."

Raeder and the others all turned their heads to look at a table clock on the observatory that was the standard time, and when the clock pointed to ten o'clock, Field Marshal Raeder shouted to Leibniz: "I announce that the exercise has begun." ”

Marshal Raeder's order was quickly conveyed to every unit participating in the exercise, and a tense atmosphere was instantly enveloped in the exercise ground.

Far east of the observatory, the USS Zeppelin was speeding against the sea breeze.

On the wide flight deck, Chen Dao raised his right arm and gave a thumbs up to a ME-109T fighter, and then bent his right leg forward with the two ground crew members beside him, knelt on his left knee, raised his right hand and waved a sword finger in front of the right in a dashing manner.

Garand, who was sitting in the cabin, gave Chen Dao and the others a thumbs up in return, and then drove the fighter plane over the deck more than 200 meters long and soared straight into the sky.

Behind Garand, thirteen ME-109T fighters took off one after another. Soon rendezvous with Garland in the sky. Murderously take on a group of bombers.

After Chen Dao had guided Garland on the ground, he ran to a Gatling 20mm anti-aircraft gun at the edge of the deck behind him to meet his men.

Chen Dao has more and more positions. The number of adjutants around me has also increased proportionally.

First Captain Nobel from the Army joined Chen Dao's ranks of adjutants, and then Captain Nietzsche from the Waffen-SS.

Everyone was a young man in his twenties, and the two quickly got into a heated fight with the veteran Captain Bach and Captain Lorenz, and under the guidance of the two veteran qualifications, they quickly adapted to Chen Dao's style.

Five men gathered around the Gatling anti-aircraft guns, skillfully opening the safety of the anti-aircraft guns, pressing the bullet chains, and pointing the muzzles of the guns at the sky.

The Bofors Arsenal provided Chen Dao with two experimental versions of the Gatling anti-aircraft guns. The gun body is composed of six 20mml70 caliber Erlikon anti-aircraft gun barrels, electric firing, bullet chain feeding, the theoretical rate of fire per minute is as high as 4,000 rounds, the actual rate of fire is about 2,500 rounds, and the firepower far exceeds all the existing 20mm anti-aircraft guns in Germany.

As soon as Chen Dao's artillery crew entered the combat state, the "enemy" bombers roared in, ignoring the ME-109T fighters chasing behind them, and rushed at full speed to the target on the sea.

In the sky, the Ju-87C dive bomber let out a terrible scream. Drop the trainer bombs at an angle almost perpendicular to the sea surface.

On the sea, the torpedoes dropped by the FI-167 torpedo planes swooped down on the Zeppelin and the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau brothers with white spray.

on three battleships. Fourteen twin 105-mm anti-aircraft guns, 27 twin-mounted 37-mm antiaircraft guns, and more than 70 20-mm anti-aircraft guns of various types opened fire one after another, laying a dense net of fire in the sky and sea to intercept enemy planes and torpedoes.

For a while, the sky was filled with gunsmoke and the sound of gunfire was endless.

The six barrels of the Gatling anti-aircraft gun under Chen Dao's command rotated rapidly, and the muzzle of the cannon spat out dazzling flames, pouring countless shells into the sky, and orange-yellow shells clanged and fell to the base.

Behind them, observers from the Naval Ordnance Bureau recorded the performance of the Gatling anti-aircraft guns one by one, took photos from different angles, and prepared for a performance evaluation after the exercise.

In less than an hour, the first phase of the exercise ended without a hitch.

According to the assessment of the battlefield judges, only the Scharnhorst was hit by two aerial bombs in the boiler room and aft deck, and the other two ships were unharmed.

Of the 40 enemy bombers that attacked, only six Ju-87C dive bombers managed to escape, and the remaining 36 were all shot down.

After the noon break, at 1:30 p.m., the second exercise began.

In the second exercise, the brother ships Scharnhorst and the Gnaisenau joined forces against the enemy aircraft carrier Zeppelin, which was still friendly in the morning.

Fifteen Ju-87C dive bombers and fifteen FI-167 torpedo bombers took off from the USS Zeppelin and slaughtered the Scharnhorst brothers in droves.

Chen Dao and Garland stood on the observation platform of the exercise, holding binoculars and looking at the sea and air battles unfolding on the sea in the distance, and silently chanted in their hearts, "Blow them up, sink them"

Under the combined curse of the unscrupulous duo from the Luftwaffe, the Scharnhorst brothers were brutally murdered and both were "sunk".

The referee decided that the battle cruiser Scharnhorst was hit by two torpedoes and three armor-piercing shells, and the Gneisenau was more lucky, being hit by only one torpedo but eating four 500-kilogram armor-piercing shells.

The Scharnhorst brothers both returned to sea, and the attackers paid the price of being shot down by nine Fi-167 torpedo bombers and five Ju-87C dive bombers.

The results of the exercise were delivered to the senior admirals on the observation deck, and immediately caused a shock, and the 14 inconspicuous bombers were killed along with two battle cruisers of nearly 40,000 tons.

Chen Dao and Garland stood aside and swallowed the clouds, coldly watching the pale-faced Redder and the others, without the two of them explaining too much, the results of the exercise said everything.

Raeder discussed with Schniedwin, Lütjens and others for a while, and waved Chen Dao over.

"Heinz, what do you think of the results of these two exercises?" Raeder asked.

"My view is fourfold. First. All ships had to be replaced with more powerful anti-aircraft guns. Especially the hateful 37-mm anti-aircraft guns, which turned out to have a rate of fire of only thirty to forty rounds per minute, and this rate of fire is completely criminal? Chen Dao said angrily.

Raeder nodded in agreement, and he received reports from observers from the Naval Ordnance Bureau stationed on the ships that the 27 twin-mounted 37mm anti-aircraft guns on the three ships had been almost ineffective in the exercise, with their slow rate of fire and low hit rate, and that they were supposed to be the backbone of anti-aircraft fire.

"I personally recommend locking all those hateful 37mm anti-aircraft guns into storage and replacing them with twin Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns. The 20-mm single-barreled anti-aircraft gun was replaced with a Gatling.

Second, it is necessary to equip all capital ships with anti-aircraft search radars and antiaircraft artillery fire control radars, because sea search radars and main artillery fire control radars alone are far from sufficient. ”

Raeder motioned to the adjutant to record Chen Dao's words one by one, and then urged, "Go on." ”

"Third, we must change our mindset and recognize that aircraft carriers will play an increasingly important role in future naval warfare. How to give full play to the role of our aircraft carriers in naval warfare and how to weaken the threat of enemy aircraft carriers to our fleet to the greatest extent must be studied as a major topic. Compared to the Royal Navy, we are far inferior in numbers, and we can only make up for it in terms of operational concepts, otherwise we will always be in a passive position in the war. ”

Raeder has been deeply touched by the tragic reality. He nodded heavily at Chen Dao.

"You have a point, what is the fourth point?"

"The fourth point is General Lütjans. Don't be discouraged, the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were put into the exercise with ill-prepared conditions, and we will compare them when you are equipped with new anti-aircraft guns and fire control radars. And our exercise was conducted in the Baltic Sea, where the wind and waves were high, and if it were the North Sea or the North Atlantic, the result would be very different, and maybe the aircraft carrier would be sunk by you without even having a chance to take off, just like the Royal Navy's aircraft carrier Glory. ”

Hearing Chen Dao talk about the USS Glory, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, Lu Teyans, looked a little better.

In the Norwegian Campaign, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau successfully intercepted and sank the aircraft carrier Glorious, which was retreating from Narvik, achieving the greatest victory of the German Navy in the Norwegian Campaign and the proudest achievement of the High Seas Fleet since the beginning of the war.

"Commander, you have also seen that the construction of naval aviation has achieved initial results, and I think that our navy should take the initiative and ask the Führer to fight, and not always be a marginal person, as was the case that day."

"Which day? What's the situation? Raeder asked, puzzled.

Chen Dao invited Raeder to a secluded corner outside the crowd and whispered: "On August 16, the Führer was promoted to eleven marshals at one time, eight in the army, three in the air force, and how many in the navy?" ”

Raeder's old face instantly turned red.

"We are not the protagonists in the French campaign, no one has won enough meritorious service to be promoted to marshal, what do you want to say?"

"I think the opportunity for our navy to make meritorious contributions has come, and now the naval aviation has initially formed combat effectiveness, and the submarine forces have also obtained enough resources, and with our current strength, it is enough to fight a war. And now we have a great opportunity in front of us, and we can't afford to miss it. ”

Raeder's eyes lit up, and it instantly occurred to him that Chen Dao might have obtained some inside information from Hitler and Goering, news that was beneficial to the Navy.

"What's the news? How much is it worth? ”

"I have heard from the men of the Third Air Force of the Air Force that the last few times they have been to London to drop leaflets, the British fighter units seem to have been prepared for their arrival." Chen Dao said.

"The British set up radar stations along the coast, and it was normal for them to prepare in advance." Raeder said.

"The Third Air Force people think the same way, but I don't think so after listening to some of the details." Chen Dao said.

"What do you think is the problem?" Raeder asked.

Chen Dao looked back around, and then lowered his voice.

"I think our Enigma may have been deciphered by the British."

Raeder's first reaction was impossible, and then he thought of Chen Dao's identity and talent, so he didn't deny it.

"How likely do you think it is?"

"The possibilities are very high. I think we in the Navy should seize this opportunity to come up with a plan to test my guesses. If the plan succeeds, the status and image of our navy in the eyes of the head of state can get a qualitative leap. ”

"This is not the place to talk about military secrets, let's go to your headquarters." Raeder said without hesitation.

Two days later, Raeder submitted to Hitler a plan of operations called the Fishing Plan, which was strongly supported by Field Marshal Goering, who had "just returned" from a sabbatical trip in Vienna, and was scheduled to be carried out after the Malta landings.

Two days later, the German naval aviation underwent a personnel reshuffle. Colonel Garland ceased to be Chief of Staff of Naval Aviation and became the commander of the 1st Aviation Division of Naval Aviation, and Deputy Chief of Staff Leibniz took over the post of Chief of Staff of Naval Aviation.

On the day of Garland's inauguration, the 1st Aviation Division of the Naval Aviation began to move to Italy.

On the night of 31 August, after a month of devastating bombardment, the landing battle on Malta Island officially began. (To be continued......)