Under the bright sunshine, a Junkers-3C water reconnaissance plane flew at an altitude of more than 300 meters above the sea surface, and in the open cockpit arranged in front and behind sat two young pilots, who wore fur hats and windproof goggles, wrapped their faces and necks tightly with thick velvet scarves, and their gloves, coats, and boots were made of cashmere leather, and the whole looked very warm. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Because it was originally intended as a professional military aircraft, the Junkers-3C has a number of unique shooting features, including a dual pilot and co-pilot configuration, which means that both the front-seat pilot and the back-seat observer can control the aircraft without the need to switch positions. At this moment, this neat-looking German reconnaissance plane is under the control of a back-seat observer, and the front-seat pilot sometimes looks left and right, sometimes loudly reminding himself of some routine operational essentials of this temporary partner with a special status.

Although he hadn't touched the plane's control stick for several months, Natsuki didn't feel nervous at all, the plane flew very smoothly under his control, and the current weather was not only low in temperature, but also ideal in vision and wind.

"Your Highness, there is Sude Island ahead!" The pilot in the front seat turned his head sideways, "The plane is piloted by me, you can check the situation below." By the way, when we fly over Sood Island, there is a possibility that we will be attacked by British artillery, but basically there is no threat, so you don't have to worry. ”

"Okay, understood!" Natsuki replied. The joystick held in both hands felt like it was being affected by an external force, so he let go of it, leaned on the edge of the cockpit with one hand, poked his head out of the cockpit, and held the six-fold binoculars in the other. A distinct pale yellow-green appeared on the surface of the sea ahead, and it was Sood, the southernmost island of the Faroe Archipelago, about 50 kilometres from Tórshavn. The silhouette of Sood Island resembles a large lobster with a sideways body, a slender body, a smooth back, and a tall chest and feet. It is similar in size to Vogue Island, but has a more complex topography with several fjords and natural harbours.

Two days had passed since the end of the Second Battle of the Faroe Islands, and congratulatory messages had been piled up on Natsuki's desk, and since he had already received the highest order of the German Empire, the Kaiser could not have received a better honorary reward, and any material reward was like a cloud in front of the royal family member who owned the Friedrich shipyard, and promotion became the only reward worthy of this victory. In the eyes of the world, the German Navy lost all the British Navy, which had been invincible, but for Natsuki, this victory came by luck, and if it had not been for the timely arrival of Hipper's "De Fllinger" and "Seydlitz", the Funk fleet would have almost certainly been defeated, and the myth of his personal and even the invincibility of the German Navy would have been shattered. Although the defeat of a single naval battle could not determine the strategic pattern of the Anglo-German struggle for sea power, nor would it make the Germans lose confidence, it could revive the troubled British.

In the naval battle that took place in the northwest waters of Sood Island, only the Westphalia was left of the four capital ships of the Funk fleet, and the "Regent of Louitport", "Thuringia", and "Moltke" were repaired and their injuries were brought under control, but they had to return to Germany for major repairs, and it is still unknown whether they will be able to recover to ideal conditions in the future. Fortunately, Hipper's two battlecruisers were barely damaged during the battle, and they had remained with the Westphalia in the Faroe Islands, allowing the German Navy to continue to control the sea in the northern seas, which were closer to the British mainland.

After the end of the naval battle, the Germans quickly wiped out the remnants of the British army on Vogue Island, so that only two islands in the Faroe Islands were under British control, namely Sood Island and Mulberry Island. The smaller Isle of Mulberry, only 20 kilometres from Tórshavn, was vulnerable to a German naval blockade, and the British troops deployed there were in a much more difficult and thin-tier position than their Sood counterparts, so there was no cause for concern. In this upcoming amphibious operation, Sood Island must be the main battlefield for which the two sides will focus on contention.

It had been nearly a week since the British troops landed on Sood Island, and the exact number of people landed was unknown to the German theater command, and Natsuki's staff members analyzed the intelligence collected from all sides and believed that the number should be between 5,000 and 10,000, and no more than 12,000 at most. With the amphibious operation to retake Sood Island already on the agenda, Natsuki felt it was very necessary to figure out the British defense on the island, so as not to make a previous strategic mistake and send thousands of German marines to their deaths.

On Sood Island, there are 12 beaches suitable for amphibious troops to carry out landing operations, and there are only 4 beaches of similar size, which seems to be favorable to the attacking side, but these beaches also facilitate the supply of British landing troops, after all, the combat strength of the German Navy in the Faroe Islands is not enough to block the long coastline of Sood Island day and night.

Through the telescope, Natsuki saw that there were criss-crossing trenches and fortifications of suspected artillery positions dug behind the two shores in the northern part of Sood Island, and with the size and layout of these defenses, even if all the ammunition left over from the three German capital ships "De Fllinger", "Seydlitz" and "Westphalia" were smashed here, it would not be enough to clear all the obstacles for the landing force. It is clear that the British commander here was wiser than his comrades who landed on Vogue Island, and had learned the lessons of trench warfare on the Western Front. If the Germans want to gain a foothold here, they will probably have to pay considerable casualties.

The Junkers-3C that Natsuki was riding on crossed the coastline and continued to fly south, when suddenly, the depression about two kilometers from the northern tip of the island was filled with flames, gunpowder smoke, and several shells rose into the air, exploding in the air at a distance of five or six hundred meters. Natsuki and his pilots were not in the mood to enjoy the fireworks in broad daylight, so they hurriedly steered the plane to deflect the course and hurriedly avoided the British anti-aircraft gun position. When it was safe, the pilot turned his head and said, "This is a common occurrence. The British never hit us, we didn't drop bombs at them, and everyone was fine. ”

Natsuki did not answer, the reason why the two sides were safe and sound, not only because the British anti-aircraft guns were not accurate, and there were big problems in the setting of the delay fuse, but also because the key targets of the German naval aviation in the previous stage were British ships, and if the Junkers-3C taking off from Tórshavn was carrying bombs, it would definitely give priority to attacking ships sailing in the nearby sea or anchoring in the island's ports. After the defeat of the German navy, the British fleet had completely withdrawn from the waters of the Faroe Islands, and the few ships dared to operate only at night.

The plane flew along the west coast of Sood Island, and it wasn't long before the wreckage of a stranded battleship appeared in Natsuki's sight. It was the Edward VII-class battleship "Africa" of the British Navy, the acting flagship of the British fleet during the Second Battle of the Faroe Islands. In the final stage of that naval battle, it was hit by the salvo fire of the "De Fllinger" one after another, the hull was riddled with holes, and the whole ship was on fire.

On the night of the engagement, the German fleet was afraid of the British high-speed torpedo boats, which had returned to replenish ammunition on their backs, and after winning the battle, they resolutely returned home. It was not until the next day that German reconnaissance planes discovered the "Africa" sinking on the west coast of Sood Island, and observed British personnel unloading weapons and ammunition from the ship. The "De Fllinger" and "Seydlitz" arrived in a hurry and completely destroyed the old battleship with long-range artillery fire, but before that, a large number of crews, guns and shells had been transferred to the island, and the defenders were strengthened.

Due to the speed and firepower of the German war cruisers, the British Navy basically only transported troops and supplies to Sood Island at night, but when Natsuki's reconnaissance plane flew over the southernmost fjord of the island, there were two submarines moored there, and there were many British troops gathered on the shore, and even two trucks were waiting to be loaded. Before Natsuki could see the situation clearly, the British artillery close to the port opened fire in a frenzy. The anti-aircraft guns, converted from conventional artillery, were more threatening than small-caliber machine guns and machine guns, and Natsuki's pilots hurriedly pulled up and flew north along the east coast of Sood Island. On this side, the island's coastline is rugged and there are many fjords, the largest of which has five or six kilometers of gentle beaches on the north and south shores, and the water inside the fjord is wide and rough, which is very suitable for landing ships. However, previous reconnaissance by German planes had found that the British had built an artillery position near the mouth of the fjord, and it was enough to deploy a dozen ordinary field guns here to control the entire fjord, and the location of the artillery position was very cleverly chosen behind the towering sea cliffs, and it was difficult for the German warships to remove this obstacle even if they reached the coast.

After flying around Suder Island, Natsuki felt that the estimate of 12,000 people was still too conservative. Just looking at the various fortifications on the island, to be able to build from scratch in such a short period of time, and to take care of all aspects, first of all, there must be sufficient manpower, and there must be the spirit of tireless and continuous work, it seems that the number of British troops transported to the island is quite large, and most of them are regular elite troops. In addition to the British marines who landed directly on the island, the combat force on the island should also include some surviving crews on the sunken ships. In the Second Battle of the Faroe Islands, the British Navy lost a total of one battle cruiser, three former dreadnoughts, and more than a dozen light ships below the light cruiser.

(End of chapter)