"Two Hindenburg-class and two Zeppelin-class departed from Wilhelmshaven. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info In addition, 2 Barbarossa-class and 3 large aircraft carriers converted from cruise ships are moored in Bergen ......"

British Prime Minister Winston. Churchill smoked a cigar and frowned as he looked at the Chief of the Imperial General Staff and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff. Francis. Viscount Brooke and First Sea Lord, Dudley. Sir Pound.

Both knights were saddened, for the news that followed was so bad. In the Middle East and East Africa direction, the combined Italian-German fleet, with three old battleships and the aircraft carriers Seydlitz and Seckert as the core, achieved a decisive victory in the Red Sea-Gulf of Aden theater, repelling the British Eastern Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Phillips and seizing the port of Aden and the island of Socotra. At the same time, the German Middle East Army under the command of General Rommel also attacked along the Persian Gulf and has now captured Ras Al Khaimah in the Strait of Hormuz.

The only British stronghold in the Middle East was Muscat, in the Gulf of Oman, and if the Germans seized it, the sea route from the Persian Gulf to Europe would be completely open. At that time, oil from the Persian province of Khuzestan would be shipped to Europe to inject into the German war machine.

And, even if Muscat can hold on for the time being. Germany will not be too short of oil now. According to MI6 intelligence, the Europeans have now not only repaired the oil fields in Sinai and Kirkuk, Iraq, but have also created many new ones - the big fields are so attractive that oil companies all over Europe, except the United Kingdom, have broken their heads to join in the oil development of the Sinai Peninsula, Syria, Iraq and Persia. As a result, the rehabilitation and development of oil fields in the Middle East is progressing very well!

But this was not the worst news, the worst news came from the Far East - the fortress of Singapore, on which the British government had high hopes, fell in February 1942! The surrender of 130,000 British troops to the besieged fortress to the Japanese Army, which was far outnumbered by them, was one of the most humiliating scenes in the history of the British Empire.

After the loss of the Singapore fort, the Straits of Malacca had been opened by the Japanese. And the joint German-Italian fleet, after seizing Socotra, also opened the door to the Indian Ocean. In other words, now the sea line of communication between Japan and Germany has been opened!

And today, the battleships of the "Hindenburg" class and the aircraft carriers of the "Zeppelin" class, which had been fearing the British for several months, finally showed signs of sortie. If the combined German, Italian, French, and Spanish fleets in Gibraltar were allowed to break through the Atlantic, then the British Empire would really be at its most dangerous moment.

Although Churchill was fearless and heroic in a cabinet meeting, it was actually a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water. At that time, even if the United States and the Soviet Union came to the rescue, the British Empire would be a dead pig. After the world war, wait for someone to slaughter and divide the meat!

If the British Empire didn't want to be a dead pig, the Royal Navy had to stop 2 Hindenburg-class battleships, 2 Barbarossa-class battleships, and 5 aircraft carriers that wanted to break through into the Atlantic.

Churchill was silent for a moment, and then suddenly asked: "Are we still going to watch the German fleet sail through the Danish Channel, as we did last December?" ”

In December last year, three battleships, the Bismarck, Tirpitz, and Gneisenor, as well as two aircraft carriers, the Seydlitz and the Seckert, broke through the Danish Strait and entered the Atlantic. At that time, because it was still in the Arctic polar night, the climate in the North Atlantic was not suitable for aircraft carriers and aircraft to fight. Therefore, the British Royal Navy did nothing and did not send troops to intercept the German fleet.

But now that the vernal equinox has passed, the weather in the North Atlantic is starting to improve, and the days are getting longer, it's time for aircraft carriers to strike.

"Prime Minister, this time we cannot let the fleet of the Germans pass through the Danish Strait unharmed!" Dudley. "Once they join up with the German, Italian, French, and Spanish fleets which are currently in Gibraltar," said Sir Pound, "they will form a powerful combined European fleet, and they will then become the hegemon in the Atlantic!" ”

The German, Italian, French, and Spanish fleets, now gathered in Gibraltar, far surpassed the British Royal Navy in terms of the number and quality of battleships, and were enough to dominate the Atlantic. However, there was not a single aircraft carrier in Gibraltar at the moment, so the battleships gathered there could only operate under the cover of land-based aviation and could not conduct ocean-going operations.

This is also the reason why the British Home Fleet can now barely control a custom sea power in the Atlantic. But if five German aircraft carriers had broken through the Danish Channel to Gibraltar, the combined European fleet would have no trouble defeating the British home fleet.

"Can you win?" Churchill looked at Dudley with some uncertainty. Sir Pound.

"There's a chance!" Dudley. Pound didn't dare to pack the ticket, he considered his words, "Our battleship force is definitely not an opponent, 5 Queen Elizabeth-class and 1 Nelson-class are too slow to be of use at all." The remaining few King George V had only 14-inch guns and were not at all a match for 2 Hindenburg-class. However, we now have 4 powerful fleet carriers, the USS Radiance, the USS Victory, the USS Terrible, and the USS Indomitable, and the USS Aquitania and USS Berengallia have been rebuilt (converted into aircraft carriers), so we now have 6 aircraft carriers available! ”

Due to the loss of HMS Brave, HMS Fury and HMS Glory in the Scapa Bay raid on 3 September 1939, the pace of British aircraft carrier construction was accelerated. By March 1942, not only had all four "Brilliant" class fleet aircraft carriers been completed, but two "Brilliant" class enhanced versions of the "Grievance" and "Indefatigable" were about to be launched.

And for emergencies, the British also began to rebuild aircraft carriers with large cruise ships. The 45,000-ton Aquitania and the 56,000-ton Burrengallia (which was actually the Emperor, which Germany paid to Britain after World War I) have been converted into aircraft carriers, and their powertrains have been upgraded to keep up with fast-moving fleets. There were also four more massive Dreadnought-class aircraft carriers, which were scheduled to begin construction in 1942.

Therefore, there are now as many as 6 aircraft carriers in the hands of the home fleet that can be used to carry out aircraft carrier decisive battles. The fleet led by Admiral Lütjans fought a battle.

However, the six British aircraft carriers were a little less carrier-based aircraft, with 36 carrier-based aircraft on each of the four "Brilliant" and "Victory" ships in the "Brilliant" class, 48 carrier-based aircraft on each of the "Dreadsome" and "Indomitable", 48 carrier-based aircraft on the Aquitania, and 60 carrier-based aircraft on the 56,000-ton Burrengallia. There are only 276 carrier-based aircraft on the 6 aircraft carriers.

The reason why there are so few carrier-based aircraft on these six aircraft carriers is not only because the hangar area of these aircraft carriers is not large enough, but also because the British carrier-based aircraft force has often been completely wiped out in the past two years or so of major wars. Therefore, Britain is now very short of excellent carrier-based aircraft pilots, and it is not easy to gather 276 commonly used carrier-based aircraft.

"And we also replaced all the carrier-based aircraft," Dudley. Pound went on to say, "Carrier-based fighters have been replaced with F4Fs, carrier-based bombers and torpedo bombers have been replaced with SBDs and TBDs." As a result, the combat effectiveness of carrier-based aircraft units has been greatly enhanced. ”

Replacing those biplane classic aircraft in the UK with SBD and TBD can certainly improve combat effectiveness. The SeaSpitfire's performance is actually better than the F4F, but because the UK has lost too many elite pilots, and now the number of pilots who can safely take off and land on aircraft carriers equipped with liquid-cooled engines is too small, the SeaSpitfire always drops decks, and finally the Royal Navy simply replaced them with the safer F4F.

"That's good!" Churchill nodded with satisfaction and said in a solemn tone, "I look forward to a great victory for Britain from the Royal Navy...... Because of our empire, a victory is needed so much now. ”

……

The flag of the commander of the British Home Fleet flew high on the battleship "King George V". Sir Cunningham, who had only been recalled from India in January 1941, immediately moved his flagship from the old and slow battleship "Nelson" to the "King George V", which had a top speed of 29 knots, as soon as he took over the Home Fleet.

This change was not due to Sir Cunningham's awareness of the importance of speed in naval warfare, but because Sir Cunningham began to make aircraft carriers the heart of the Royal Navy.

The "Nelson", which has a maximum speed of only 23 knots, cannot keep up with the four "Brilliant" class aircraft carriers that can run 30.5 knots, and the "King George V", which can run 29 knots, can barely keep up with these four fast aircraft carriers. Therefore, "King George V" can be used as the flagship of the fleet with aircraft carriers as the core.

"The aircraft carriers of the Germans are dispatched!"

In the office of the commander of the "King George V", Cunningham said to his three deputies, Rear Admiral Lister, Chief of Staff of the Fleet, Vice Admiral Somerville, Commander of the Aircraft Carrier Force of the Home Fleet, and Vice Admiral Whitworth, Commander of the Battleship Force of the Home Fleet: "There could be 5 aircraft carriers!" If they are allowed to break through to the Atlantic and Gibraltar fleets, then the next thing our home fleet can do is fight to the death in the English Channel. And with the current comparison of the strength of the battleship forces of the two sides, the battle of the English Channel has almost no chance of winning. So we have to fight for it in the next few days to ten days! (To be continued.) )