Yes, the German fleet did not come to trouble the main British fleet. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoEven at the height of the German navy of the High Seas Fleet, they were not capable of fighting the main British fleet.

Since it was not to trouble the British fleet, then the German fleet would be fine as long as it could avoid the other side.

Lütjans found that it seemed easy to avoid the opposing team's fleet now! So what is he still nervous about? It would be nice to make reasonable use of naval aviation and avoid the enemy.

The commander of the German fleet, who was relieved, had already begun to remember his true mission at this time.

He was now thinking about what kind of disaster his fleet would bring to British transports when it entered the Atlantic.

In the past, it was necessary to search aimlessly on the sea, but now there are reconnaissance methods such as airplanes. Compared to a seaplane, this thing is much easier to use!

On this side, Lütjans figured it out, and on the other side, the British were also sending troops. Compared to the German Navy, Dudley? There are too many cards in Pound's hand.

After fearing that the German fleet would break its own detachments and could only concentrate the interceptor fleet, Dudley? Pound began to arrange for the H Fleet, which had already entered the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean Fleet.

After receiving the exact news of the German fleet, the H fleet and the Mediterranean fleet also made corresponding adjustments.

Confirmed the news that the aircraft carrier Zeppelin had been dispatched and the German fleet was pouring out, Dudley? Pound ordered that the two fleets going north also disrupted the sequence and formed two fleets with different missions.

The first fleet was commanded by Sir Somerville himself, and included the battleships Barham and the battleship Sovereign, as well as the aircraft carriers Eagle and Eminential.

In addition, a fleet led by Admiral John? Vice Admiral Tovey commanded two battle cruisers, the USS Hood and USS Prestige, as well as the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal.

At the Naval Operations Command in London, England, Churchill was listening to Dudley? Pound gave a briefing on the current movement of the naval fleet.

The presence of the German fleet in the waters near Iceland put pressure on the British. Churchill had already been briefed on the shortage of supplies, and now he did not dare to interrupt the sea transport easily.

If the sea transport was destroyed by German warships, even if it was just a little disturbed, it would have a huge negative impact on Britain at home.

"First of all, the home fleet will hold the Danish Strait...... But whether the German ships would have followed this path or not, we have no way of knowing. "Dudley? Pound used the whip to draw on the huge map, and gestured to introduce.

The commander of the naval aviation standing beside Pound awkwardly picked up the words of Admiral Pound and said to Churchill: "Because of the disappearance of the carrier-based aircraft, we cannot judge the route and speed of the German warship. ”

The last time the other party's speed and route were confirmed was the news from the Suffolk. At that time, the course and speed of the German fleet, delayed to this time, where can it be used as a basis?

Will the other party slow down or speed up? Will the other party adjust its course? These questions are based on guesswork, and it is impossible to determine the approximate location of the opposing fleet.

Now, hours have passed, and it is close to noon. Based on the data in the morning, it is possible to guess the position of the German fleet, which can stretch for about 100,000 square kilometers......

It's almost the same as drawing a circle in the North Atlantic, and then saying that the German fleet must be somewhere in that circle - what's the difference between that and nothing?

"Waiting is not the style of our Navy! Be proactive! Find a way to annihilate your enemies before they enter the Atlantic! Churchill had also been the Secretary of the Admiralty, and when he heard the report, he spoke.

He walked to the front of the map, looked at the Danish Strait, pointed to the approximate range and suggested: "Send another plane and search this sea area!" The location of the enemy's fleet must be determined at all costs! ”

In Churchill's view, instead of standing here and guessing, it is better to arrange two more planes to go to the key areas to have a look!

If you're lucky, you might be able to spot the enemy's fleet. If you are unfortunate enough to be shot down again, you can at least guess the location of the other party.

Gritted his teeth, Dudley? Pound turned sideways and nodded to the commander of naval aviation.

At such a moment, even if you know that you may lose your pilot, you have to take another risk. After all, once successful, the advantages gained are too huge.

As a battlefield commander, sacrificing several pilots when necessary is also a trade-off and choice. Ci is not in charge of the army, this is the case.

"In the event of a failed interception, the German ships entered the Atlantic." Dudley? Pound continued to introduce the next countermeasures.

He sketched it with a whip: "The home fleet will follow the opposing fleet south, driving the German fleet into the encirclement." ”

Speaking of this, his feet pointed to the sea in the south of England a little further west: "The speed can keep up with the search fleet of the opposing fleet, and it will follow the opposing fleet to the left and right under the cover of the Ark Royal, keeping a distance." ”

Then, he pointed to a position even lower: "Sir Somerville will lead the fleet to block the other party's way and surround the other party's fleet!" ”

Dudley? Pound's plan looked good, although the Germans' entry into the Atlantic would put pressure on shipping.

However, Britain could also take this opportunity to concentrate its superior forces to gather and annihilate the German fleet.

In terms of strength, the British Royal Navy has an absolute advantage of three to one, and the number of aircraft carriers has reached an overwhelming five to one!

Although there was a clear gap in carrier-based aircraft, in the face of numerical superiority, the fate of the German fleet seemed to have been decided.

Although Churchill did not want to see the German fleet enter the Atlantic, it seems that Dudley? Pound's battle plan is still more in line with his wishes.

After all, he had been a naval secretary and knew some naval techniques and tactics. In his opinion, this plan is calm and makes full use of the superiority of the navy's forces, which can be regarded as decent.

Unable to find fault with it, Churchill finalized the battle plan. Now all he can do is wait for the front-line commander Charles, to send back real-time news.

Charles was also nervous at this time, just two minutes ago, he had just ordered the two Sea Fighter fighters on the Fury to take off and cover the two Swordfish attack planes to carry out a search mission in the estimated sea area.

Although they knew that this reconnaissance would be life-threatening, the fearless British Royal Navy pilots still obeyed the orders given to them by their superiors.

As a low-ranking soldier, all they can do is obey orders and pray that they can live.

The four planes formed a formation and flew to the target sea area, and the actual position of the German fleet at this time was really much worse than the British estimate.

Relying solely on the estimated location is not accurate at all! Fearing that the Danish Channel would be blocked by the British, Lütjans began to speed up his voyage as soon as he was out of sight of the British navy.

The entire fleet even soared all the way to a speed of more than 27 knots, which was much, much higher than the 23 knots estimated by the British.

Lütjans was a veteran of evading the enemy's aviation detection, and when he did not have naval aviation, he was able to use his speed and course to evade the large number of British planes searching for him.

Now that naval aviation has created a better guerrilla environment for him, he has naturally played a familiar set of tactics.

Sudden acceleration and then changing course is a common way to make it impossible for the enemy to determine your position. Conversely, a sudden slowdown or even a halt can also make the opponent make a wrong judgment.

While commanding the Scharnhorst, the bold Lütjens stopped and waited, avoiding the search for the British warship that pursued him.

This time he accelerated very suddenly, and ran at a speed that the British fleet did not dare to imagine, and indeed confused the judgment of the British naval fleet.

Two hours later, the British carrier-based aircraft did not find the German fleet in the intended sea area and sent back the message that they had not encountered the German fleet......

The news reached the British command, and the British top brass was instantly messy. Right under everyone's noses, the fleet of the Germans "disappeared"!

"What are you kidding? The Germans did not go through the Danish Strait? "Dudley? Pound looked incredulous, and asked the officer who sent the news back.

Churchill sat on the sidelines and his eyes widened, the Germans did not appear in the Danish Channel, what was going on?

On the other side, British planes taking off from land-based aircraft are desperately searching a large area of the sea south of Iceland.

As a result, none of these planes touched the fleet of the Germans, and of course it was impossible to confirm the location of the Germans.

"Send carrier-based aircraft again! Be sure to block the Danish Strait! "Fleet Commander Charles, who didn't have a good way, could only continue to take off planes to patrol that area.

Of course, he would not have known that the German fleet had already passed by with his fleet at this time in the waters south of the not wide Danish Strait.

"Will it ...... The German commander, knowing that his fleet had been discovered, turned back to Norway on a long way? An admiral whispered suddenly.

"Let the Dorsetshire continue north and search for a possible German fleet!" Thinking of this possibility, Dudley? Pound had no choice but to allocate his strength to confirm.

Who knows? Maybe the German commander really did the embarrassing thing of turning back, didn't he......

The British naval commanders, including Churchill, did not know that the German fleet commanded by Lütjens at this time was actually less than 110 kilometers away from their home fleet blocking the exit of the Danish Channel......

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