The offensive of Army Group North followed almost a straight line, and their goal was quite clear, that is, Petersburg.

After the start of the battle, under the command of Field Marshal Bock, with Heppner's 4th Panzer Corps as the center, Küsilel's 18th Army as the left flank, and Boucher's 16th Army as the right flank, they attacked from Königsberg in East Prussia to the general direction of Daugavpilskiv in Leningrad with the support of the 1st Air Force.

The 4th Panzer Corps captured the two bridges over the Western Dvina River outside the city of Daugavpils in its entirety and occupied Daugavpils.

In this way, the loss of Daugavpils completely exposed the Pskov-Leningrad line to the Germans due to the loss of its natural barrier.

And what is even more speechless is that just after the German army occupied Riga, the capital of Latvia, and broke through the defense line of the Soviet army on the Russian border in Latvia, the Soviet army was absolutely frightened and abandoned Pskov, so that the door to Petersburg was opened.

(I don't know if you're tired of the constant depiction of land wars, but the offensive of the Northern Army is simpler.) ）

At the same time, the Finnish army had already driven the Soviet troops out of its borders and began new preparations for war, intending to launch a fierce offensive on the Soviet Northern Front in the Petrozavodsk and Vyborg directions, respectively.

And just like that, Petersburg has become dangerous.

As soon as Tributz got the news of the occupation of Pskov, he knew that the situation was already quite bad, and that the German ground forces, not even Estonia at all, had already invaded the Soviet mainland.

"We must return to Petersburg and use our naval guns to support the ground battle against the German tank forces." Tributz looked at the people present, and there was a lot of unwillingness in his words.

As the most powerful Baltic Fleet, they are not capable of attacking the enemy at all, they will retreat to Petersburg, but he knows that he must do so.

Petersburg, an important monument to the Soviets.

At that time, the Soviet revolution began in Petersburg, and Petersburg was named after the great revolutionary pioneer, and if the city was ravaged under the hands of the Germans, it would be a shame for the whole Soviet Union, even more infuriating than the occupation of Moscow.

They're going to defend their city.

As the commander of the fleet, he has the right to give such orders, and at the same time, his orders will be reported to Moscow, and radio waves will be transmitted from Tallinn back to Moscow, and at the same time, they will also spread in all directions.

Like the Mediterranean, the Baltic Sea is almost an inland sea, and can only communicate with the outside ocean through the strait between Denmark and Sweden, but, unlike the Mediterranean, it is difficult to be affected by the warm Atlantic current, so the temperature of the entire Baltic Sea is always low, and even the outward passage will freeze at the coldest time.

It's not cold now, it's already spring, but on the surface of the sea, you still occasionally see a patch or two of ice floes drifting by, which is floating from the icy Gulf of Bothnia.

At this time, in the waters of Latvia, a fleet was sailing towards the interior of the Baltic Sea, the sea breeze was whistling, and the flag was fluttering fiercely in the wind.

In front of this fleet were the "Scharnhorst" and "Strasbourg", two battleships leading a vast array of more than a dozen battleships, forming a huge formation, and in the middle of them, three Goethe-class aircraft carriers.

Although Germany has built several Count Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers, these aircraft carriers are not suitable for operation in the Baltic Sea, there is too little room for maneuver, and these aircraft carriers are mainly used against the Americans in the Atlantic, and are not involved in these current operations.

Goethe-class aircraft carriers, it is enough.

At this time, on the deck of the Goethe-class aircraft carrier, the Stuka bombers on board were preparing for takeoff.

The universal fighter of the German Navy is the F190, this aircraft is definitely an all-rounder in the hands of the Navy, it can not only fight in the air, but also attack the ground and ships, and can hang torpedoes and bombs, but the production of this aircraft is limited after all.

The German Navy is rapidly expanding, and new aircraft cannot meet the needs all the time, so in the hands of the Navy, there are still a large number of Stuka bombers, in addition to giving some to the islanders, the German Navy is also using itself.

For example, on the Goethe-class aircraft carriers, there were quite a few Stuka bombers.

Squadron Leader Franz Stiegler, carrying his flight cap, stood in the flight preparation room on the bridge, from which it was possible to clearly see the planes on the deck that had completed their preparations.

The windows were open, and the cold wind from outside was swishing in, and even though it was already spring, the Baltic Sea was still cold.

"Our task is to take off from our aircraft carriers and completely destroy the main warships of the Soviets' Baltic Fleet." He said to his pilots.

"Those Soviets, finally willing to come out?" Hearing his words, the pilots below were immediately eager to try.

In the past few days, they have been very aggrieved.

Because the attack power of the air force was limited, the Baltic Fleet of the Soviets was always preserved, leaving the Soviet Navy to the German Navy.

However, the Soviet Navy played a trick.

The German air power was quite formidable, and the feat of German planes attacking Scapa Bay and destroying the British Navy in one fell swoop was a textbook classic example of war, and it was impossible for the Soviets not to worry.

So, the Soviets were very shameless, after the battle started that day, they actually started to release smoke on the port, yes, smoke, they burned those broken rubber or something at the dock, destroying the atmosphere, making the whole dock smoke.

Their battleship was shrouded in this layer of smoke, which gave the German pilots a great obstacle and prevented them from making a dive attack.

They had been studying the Soviet Union's Baltic Fleet for a few months, and had simulated attacks many times, but they were plagued by their ruse.

"Yes, the fleet of the USSR is about to pull anchor and set sail." Franz said he had just gotten the news: "We need to be mentally prepared for take-off now, and the order will be given at any time." ”

"Are you here to attack us?" One pilot asked.

"No, they're going back to Petersburg."

"Cut, shrunken turtle! The head reduction is also a knife. ”

At this moment, an urgent whistle sounded on the entire aircraft carrier, and the order to take off had been given!