October 12, 1939, Iceland time, 6 a.m.

In the Atlantic Ocean, 400-700 nautical miles south of Iceland, there are six fleets/fleets from northeast to southwest. The closest to Iceland in the northeast is the F Fleet with the battlecruiser "Prestige" as the flagship, the battleship "Sovereign" and the aircraft carrier "Hundred-Eyed Giant". About 100 nautical miles southwest of the F Fleet is the G Fleet with the battlecruiser "Hood" as the flagship and the aircraft carrier "Ark Royal" as the flagship.

About 300 nautical miles west of the island of Ireland was the flagship of the battleship "Revenge", which also owned the battleship "Resolve". Less than 70 nautical miles west of the I Fleet there was also an AB-80 convoy of more than 12 transport ships and 1 escort vessels.

Less than 80 nautical miles southwest of the AB-1 convoy, the German flotilla consisting of the Scharnhorst, the Sedlitz and the newly arrived Leipzig was cruising.

About 180 nautical miles directly south of the AB-1 convoy, the British H Fleet, with the battleships "Balham" and "Malaya" and the aircraft carrier "Eagle" as the core, was sailing.

This is undoubtedly a naval battle with a disparity in power, at least in terms of the number of ships. The number of ships on the German side was only a pitiful 3, while the number of ships on the British side was more than 200!

The balance of forces is so great that if in the last big war, there is almost no suspense about victory or defeat. But with the rapid advancement of internal combustion engine technology over the past 20 years, the mode of naval warfare, like land warfare, has undergone revolutionary advances.

At 6 o'clock, the two sides involved in the battle did not know the exact location of the other party, or even whether the other party existed. So today's confrontation began with a search - a search with a variety of carrier-based aircraft!

The main ones sent by the British side were: "Swordfish" torpedo bombers -- each aircraft carrier sent 3 planes, and the 3 aircraft carriers sent a total of 9 "Swordfish" bombers; Walrus Seaplanes - At least 2 seaplanes per British battleship/battlecruiser, 1 seaplane per heavy cruiser and some light cruisers, a total of 16 Walrus seaplanes from 8 battleships/battlecruisers, and 11 Walrus seaplanes from 7 heavy cruisers and 4 larger light cruisers.

Thus, at the beginning of the campaign, the British sent a total of 36 search aircraft (9 "Swordfish", 27 "Walrus").

And the three warships on the German side released 9 Type 99 and 4 Ar-196 (one of which belonged to the light cruiser "Leipzig"), for a total of only 13 reconnaissance aircraft.

13 to 36 is of course an absolute disadvantage!

And now the weather is quite clear, there are no clouds to hide from. Therefore, it was very difficult for the Scharnhorst, Seydlitz and Leipzig to hide their tracks on the surface of the sea.

At 6:45, the sound of air raid sirens sounded on the "Scharnhorst".

"Lieutenant General, it's a seaplane!"

The communications staff officer on board the "Scharnhorst" had a telephone receiver in his hand and reported loudly: "Four Fokker Zeros have bitten it!" ”

The radars on board the Fokker Zero, which was on direct mask, and the Scharnhorst, discovered the incoming Walrus seaplane almost simultaneously.

"Are you sure it's a seaplane?" Major General Leifman followed up and after receiving an affirmative answer, he said to Lieutenant General Machar, "It should be the 'Walrus', it is very slow, it can only fly about 200 km/h." It's 6:45 a.m., and the plane should have been ejected less than 1 hour ......"

"The enemy is within 100 nautical miles?" Machar interrupted Reifman. The atmosphere in the entire command tower suddenly became tense!

Within 100 nautical miles there are large British warships capable of carrying "Walruses"!

At this time, the communications staff officer reported: "Lieutenant General, the 'Seydlitz' reports that the Fokker Zero has shot it down. ”

The combat effectiveness of the Fokker Zero is really outstanding!

As soon as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the voice of the communications staff officer sounded again: "We have also heard unknown radio signals. ”

Damn it!

Marchar and Leifman glanced at each other, the "Walrus" had already sent a telegram, and its location had been revealed.

"Lieutenant General," the communications staff officer received a new message at this time, "the British convoy has been discovered!" "Just 90-100 nautical miles to the west, heading east, coordinates are ......"

Marcal and Leifman walked a few steps to the chart table, and the nautical staff had already indicated on the chart the approximate location of the British convoy - they were the AB-1 convoy. It was the heavy cruiser "London" that discovered the German fleet just now, which was sent by the flagship of AB-1.

"When the reconnaissance plane discovers it, immediately recall all Fokker 99s, add bombs, and let them attack!" Major General Reifman immediately made a suggestion. "Because we are pursuing at a speed of 30 knots, it will take at least 3-4 hours to catch up, and if we want to achieve results, we must send planes to bomb!"

The efficiency of the aircraft carrier to break the diplomatic relationship is high here!

Similarly, the role of carrier-based aircraft/seaplanes in escort is also undoubtedly reflected. If the German fleet did not have aircraft carriers, even if the AB-196 was discovered with the Ar-1 seaplane, there would be no way to achieve significant results.

Because the distance between the two sides is still 90-100 nautical miles, the "Scharnhorst" will have to run for three hours before it has a chance to fire, and the other side is likely to disband the formation and flee. At that time, the "Scharnhorst" could catch at most one or two merchant ships, and its efficiency was limited compared to that of submarines.

But with the Fokker 99 carrier-based bomber, even if there are only 9 of them, at least four or five can be easily damaged.

"But it's possible that the British aircraft carriers are somewhere nearby." Lieutenant General Machar hesitated.

"Lieutenant General, we have 20 Fokker Zeros, and we are afraid that we will not be able to deal with British biplanes?" Major General Reifman said. He knew that his proposal was very risky, but if he wanted to achieve results, he couldn't do it without taking risks.

Besides, the anti-aircraft firepower provided by 20 Fokker Zeros should be strong enough, and now it is only necessary to take care not to let the British battleships get closer.

"Okay, that's it!" Lieutenant General Mashaal nodded, "Give orders to Major General Heyer." ”

He paused, then added, "We're going to turn around and head south, full speed, 30 knots, and then slow down and take back the plane when the Fokker 99 is back." After the nine Fokker 99s were on strike again, we turned east and circled to the south of the British freighters. Today we will continue to bomb with nine Fokker 99s during the day, and then sink the wounded steamer with the 'Scharnhorst' in the evening. ”

……

"Admiral, we've found them!"

In the command tower of the battleship "Revenge", the atmosphere also suddenly became tense.

"A battleship, an aircraft carrier, a cruiser!" The communications staff shouted.

"We've got them!" Major General Phillips almost cheered. "They're almost in the middle of our four fleets!"

"The news can't be wrong, right?" Forbes said, "Did that seaplane lose contact?" ”

"Lost contact, probably shot down by a Fokker Zero." Rear Admiral Phillips said, "But there are other walruses that have flown over, and I believe that the position of the German fleet will soon be confirmed." ”

Just when Admiral Forbes frowned and hesitated, the fleet communications staff shouted again: "AB-1 reports that they found 1 unidentified seaplane!" ”

This should be the Ar-196 of the Germans! Everyone was thinking: this is almost certain of the discovery of the German fleet!

Rear Admiral Phillips immediately suggested to Admiral Forbes, "Let the aircraft carriers send 'Big Europe' and 'Swordfish'!" Send it now! ”

Charles. Admiral Forbes also shouted in his heart: "God forbid! ”

This time I was so lucky! It seems that the shame of the "Battle of Scarpa Bay" can be washed away.

"Okay, send the coordinates of the Germans to the F, G and H fleets, and let them immediately send torpedo bombers and dive bombers!" Charles. Forbes ordered loudly, "Our Fleet I must also move, go and join AB-1, and move closer to AB-1 at full speed!" ”

AB-1 consisted of 86 transport ships with a total tonnage of more than 630,000 tons, and those transports were carrying a lot of raw materials that Britain urgently needed, so the "Scharnhorst" could not be sunk.

……

"Garand detachment, Garland detachment, I'm 'Seydlitz'." Adolph. At 7:55 a.m., Garland was flying through the sky in a Fokker Zero when the voice of Lieutenant Colonel Weiss, an aviation staff officer, came from his headphones.

"The radar has spotted a plane, right in front of you at 2 o'clock, at an altitude of 4000, to see who it is?"

"Garand received!" Major Garland immediately replied, "Repeat, Garland received." Then he adjusted the intercom to the frequency of the formation call, "There is work done!" Come with me! ”

When he gently pushed the control stick and piloted the plane to search for the incoming enemy, he suddenly thought to himself: The enemy planes are coming one after another, and it seems that there must be a bloody battle to be fought today!

At this time, the voice of wingman Schumacher came from his headphones: "Major, I see it, it's a 'Swordfish' plane...... Not a seaplane, it's a carrier-based aircraft! It seems that the aircraft carriers of the British are nearby! ”

Not necessarily close, but certainly not far! Thinking of this, Garland said: "Cheer up, now we are going to decide the outcome of the war!" (To be continued.) )