"Trust him completely for the time being, unless there is evidence to the contrary." Churchill sighed, "I know it may not be fair to him, but I can't help it, I have to be careful in my position." ”

Looking at the exhausted prime minister, Menzies sighed secretly. Churchill has been under a lot of pressure in recent times, and under the influence of a series of failures, such as the total destruction of North Africa, the loss of the Middle East, the failure of the North Sea, and the constant attacks on vital shipping lines, both high-level and civilian, accusations against the wartime cabinet have become more and more serious. Originally, Churchill's prestige reached a high level after leading LinkedIn to win the Battle of Britain, but he did not expect it to deteriorate sharply in the last six months. Although the prime minister himself is still struggling to support it, other cabinet members have also shared the burden in due course, and the United States has repeatedly promised greater assistance, the lack of hope is extremely hopeless.

"Does he have any news?"

"Two German aircraft carriers were unscathed, the Tirpitz was almost intact, and four other heavy cruisers and a number of light cruisers and small warships were docked - probably torpedo boats. This is in line with what the Portuguese side has in hand, but there are other things that we do not have in our possession. ”

"For example?"

"There are an estimated 80-100 aircraft carrier-based aircraft, land-based airfields have been expanded, the army unit is about 1200-2000 people, with 30-40 tanks and almost the same number of armored vehicles, no large-caliber artillery is seen, but the Portuguese coastal defense system on the island has been fully taken over by Germany."

Thanks to a close look at Anglosmo Sansseemo, Britain has now finally figured out that another aircraft carrier was converted from the Europa Express cruise ship, considering the displacement of nearly 50,000 tons, naval aviation experts estimate that its rebuilt aircraft carrying capacity is about 40-60 aircraft, plus the Zeppelin's aircraft, the German fleet has at least 100-120 aircraft, which is in line with the total number of German aircraft in the North Sea battle, and now it is very normal for intelligence officers to report 80-100 aircraft. The German fleet was supposed to have suffered considerable losses while passing through the North Sea.

Of course, this judgment is not entirely correct: the two aircraft carriers have a total of only 82+18 aircraft, and the cumulative loss of nearly 30 aircraft before and after the North Sea Campaign, and the loss of 11 pilots (groups), after the departure of the Spanish transport fleet, these losses were completely compensated, and the pilots were also replenished in place.

After sending a telegram and reporting the information, Tom hoped that the Royal Navy would quickly organize a fleet to attack, just as the Count of Spain rushed into Argentina but was finally encircled, and the Royal Navy would exert all its strength as if it had destroyed Bismarck. But this time he was destined to be disappointed, two days passed, three days passed, five days passed, and when Germany completed the occupation of Madeira and settled in the Canary Islands, the Royal Navy he was expecting still did not appear, but instead saw a second convoy of convoys docking, all under the French flag, which also included two oil tankers. He watched as the German forces on the island went from two battalions to two regiments, and then a large number of tanks landed on the shore.

He speculated that in addition to Angra Sansto, there should also be troops stationed on the other islands, because the Germans had announced that those who did not want to return to the Portuguese mainland would all live on the island of Angra Sansto.

This guess was correct, and the German troops who arrived this time were two brigades in addition to escorting another batch of supplies, all of which Keitel had used to support Raeder's troops, and they were all integrated into the Marine Corps. Due to the large scale of the German Army at the division level after the adjustment of the establishment, the brigade-level establishment of about 5,000-6,000 people is more suitable for the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps has four brigades in one go, but with the exception of one brigade whose personnel are drawn from the original navy guard units, the rest are all transferred from the army as a formation.

After the Air Force successfully put its hand into the Navy, the Army was not willing to be lonely, and took the opportunity of the expansion of the Marine Corps to stuff people in. Since only four Marine Brigades were formed in the short term, even if the medium- and long-term goal would be expanded to more than 16, the Army was not embarrassed to send a general like the Air Force, but sent Valter Weiss, a very low-key and pragmatic general, who was dismissed as commander of the 27th Army during the disarmament and expansion operation, and was originally going to be the commander of the group army, but was temporarily recommended to be the commander of the Marine Corps.

Now the navy not only has a fleet but also aircraft, bases, and marines, and it has completely become a "small Wehrmacht", and all kinds of military services are stuffing people into it, and even Himmler wants to organize the Waffen-SS of the navy, and the goal is to target the S-boat troops, but Hoffman intervenes to stop them. With the expansion of naval strength and the addition of two more marshals, many people are rumoring that Raeder's power is gradually being overthrown: the submarine force is under the control of Dönitz, the naval aviation is under the direct control of Richthofen, the surface ship force is under the control of Machar and Krake, and the Marine Corps now has Weiss. However, Raeder himself was more open-minded about this, and he said to Frick more than once: "As long as the navy is cohesive, strengthened, and elevated, whoever will be the commander-in-chief of the navy can be the commander-in-chief, and as long as the Führer gives the order, I can retire tomorrow......"

Now the "crows" finally believe that the German war report in the Battle of the North Sea is true, and the Royal Navy is bragging. The reason is simple, if the Royal Navy really suffered little losses, how could they allow the Germans to calmly occupy the islands, consolidate the defenses, transport supplies? How could the French and Spanish convoys be allowed to move supplies freely? You must know that every day of delay now will cost you more in the future for a counteroffensive.

He never expected that the Royal Navy was not only defeated, but also completely defeated, not to mention that the vital Azores Islands were difficult to recover quickly, and even Jan Mayen, which was occupied by Mashal and located north of Iceland, did not dare to take it now, because the strength of the German Army had increased to 1 battalion, with 20 S-boats and more than 80 aircraft, including a joint attack aircraft with a particularly wide coverage and included in the standard equipment of the Axis, which was improved on the basis of the Italian SM-79 bomber. The modified BWM-801 engine can reach a maximum speed of 530 km / h, and the range is more than 2,000 km without an auxiliary fuel tank.

The most terrifying thing about the joint attack aircraft is not its speed or range, but its ability to carry ammunition: it can hang four 500-kilogram bombs or two ordinary aviation torpedoes at the limit, and after the success of the newly developed G9s aviation oxygen torpedo in Germany, the joint attack aircraft is directly attached to the new equipment. The new torpedo has a diameter of 483 mm (19 inches, submarines are generally 21 inches, and the G9a and spear are both 24 inches), weighs 1,275 kg, has a total length of 6.2 meters, ammunition 330 kg, and has a maximum range of more than 6,500 meters at a maximum speed of 54 knots.

After Germany obtained Japanese technology and pierced the layer of oxygen torpedoes, more and better torpedo equipment emerged at once, not only the power of explosives was far superior to that of Japanese originals, but also the reliability was much improved. The Navy has done tests, the G9S air-launched oxygen torpedo is extremely powerful, theoretically no matter what type of 10,000-ton ship, as long as it hits the waterline, a tube sinks, the only defect is that it cannot be used in shallow waters. Of course, the weight and take-off distance of the joint attack aircraft are destined to be used only on land and cannot be carrier-based, and the Ju-98 carrier-based aircraft cannot tow such a behemoth as the G9s.

The British side has deduced from aerial reconnaissance that if the TF27 formation is allowed to launch a landing battle to seize Jan Mayen Island alone, it must pay the price of 1 battleship or 2-3 10,000-ton cruisers, 40-50 aircraft, and 2,000-3,000 casualties, which the Royal Navy cannot afford at present. If they had known that there was such a thing as the G9s, the estimate of the ship's losses would have at least doubled. Moreover, the focus of British attention is now on the Azores, and Jan Mayen is just a disease of ringworm.

On 25 February, Churchill received three pieces of crucial information from the Raven:

First, the main forces of the German fleet, with the exception of torpedo boats, all went out and their whereabouts were unknown;

Second, in the past few days, a large number of planes have taken off and landed, and no less than 150 land-based planes have been visually inspected, one-third of which are fighters, the rest are bombers or attack planes, and some are water reconnaissance planes.

Thirdly, the Germans were building a large number of radar stations and shore fortifications, which were heavily guarded and could not be observed in detail.

The news of Germany's steady stream of army and reinforcements shocked both sides of the Atlantic, and London, Washington, and Ottawa were in chaos. Obviously, the entry of the Germans into the North Sea and the occupation of the Azores was not at all an adjunct to the breakdown of diplomatic relations, but a complete plan that had been prepared for a long time, judging by the fact that the Germans quickly mobilized transport fleets from France and Spain to transport supplies, the Germans had been planning for this day for a long time.

Based on the drastic increase in the number and armament of the defenders of the Azores, a detachment like TF27 alone cannot deal with it, and it is also a delivery of food when it goes, and only the organization of a large fleet and a landing force in units of 10,000 can be effective, considering the number of aircraft on the island and the main force of the German fleet in the Atlantic, it must be a large fleet that gathers the main naval forces of Britain and the United States in the Atlantic.

As a result, the British fleet, which had just returned from the Far East and included two capital ships of the George V-class class and two Radiance-class aircraft carriers, did not directly return to the British mainland according to the original plan after the replenishment was completed on the 25th -- the Joint Chiefs of Staff held that these warships alone had no obvious advantage over the German navy, and demanded that it remain on the east coast, accept US command, and join the Grand Fleet that was about to depart.

After learning the information that the main force of the German fleet had left the port and its whereabouts were unknown, not only Roosevelt, but even Admiral King, who had always been cold, became anxious, and while ordering the Atlantic Fleet to quickly formulate a combat plan, he urged all ships to step up supplies and complete combat preparations, and he wanted to gather all the capital ships to attack the Azores.

Britain and the United States quickly agreed that the Norwegian offensive, the North African landing, the Kenyan counteroffensive, and the defense of Gibraltar were all on the sidelines, and the Azores offensive must be organized as soon as possible to recapture this vital stronghold. (To be continued.) )