September 3, 1939, 4 p.m. GMT.

On the battleship "Nelson" anchored in Scapa Bay, all the men stood still at their posts, while Lord of the Admiralty Churchill, First Sea Secretary Sir Pound and their retinue stood in the officers' lounge.

The same voice came from all the loudspeakers on the ship - the voice of a stammering man: "...... I appeal...... All my people are united...... In the experience of time...... Moving Forward in Unity...... The quest will ...... Difficulties...... The road ahead may be cloudy...... Hereon...... We religiously ...... Promise to God...... If we all remain steadfast in our convictions...... God willing...... We will win! ”

The person who was speaking was King George VI of Great Britain, and at 3 o'clock in the afternoon the House of Commons of the British Parliament passed a resolution declaring war on the German Empire. Prime Minister Nechamberlain then entered Buckingham Palace, informed the King of the news, and asked for his approval.

George VI, who had long known that he was going to fight with Germany, immediately made a radio speech after approving a formal declaration of war. Because his stuttering was so severe, he stammered. But this speech still greatly encouraged the British people and soldiers!

"God bless my king! Britain will win! ”

The officers and men of the "Nelson", as well as all the officers and men of the British Navy ships anchored in Scapa Bay, all chanted slogans. Then the national anthem "God bless the king" began to be sung......

Almost at the same time, Hitler, who had just delivered a demagogic speech in the Reichstag, was accompanied by Defense Minister Field Marshal Schleicher and entered the official residence of the Imperial City of Berlin to meet the German Emperor Wilhelm.

"Your Majesty, we will win!" Field Marshal Schleicher, dressed in a marshal's uniform with many medals, stood in front of the emperor and looked confident.

"Really?" William, with his beard and hair all turned snow-white, still looked very majestic, but he didn't have the sharpness he had 25 years ago. "That's what Moltke told me at the time, but then ......"

"Your Majesty, at 9 o'clock this morning, the vanguard of the 19th Panzer Army has crossed the Vistula River and is currently attacking behind the eastern cluster of the Polish Primorsky Army, and by tomorrow at the latest, the vast majority of the Polish Primorsky Army will completely collapse!"

Field Marshal Schleicher informed the Emperor of the good news he had received in the morning—a Polish army group of 100,000 men was soon to be wiped out.

"And the losses of the 19th Panzer Army," Schleicher said in a very proud tone, "are less than 500 men, and this is the total loss of the dead, seriously wounded, and missing!" ”

In the last war, a battalion could have 500 dead and wounded in three days! Now the 19th Panzer Army has defeated 100,000 Polish troops, and that's just a little loss. This shows that the German Army is extremely strong in combat and does not have to worry about France at all. Moreover, the Luftwaffe has also performed very well in these days, and the Polish Air Force has no power to fight back.

"But the British navy is very strong!" Kaiser Wilhelm whispered, "The last great war was lost because of the blockade of the British navy." ”

"Your Majesty, the British Navy will be dealt with by naval aviation!" "Within two or three hours," Schleicher assured, "there will be good news!" ”

……

"Captain, our radar seems to be broken!"

Just when Field Marshal Schleicher assured the Emperor that the surprise attack of naval aviation would be successful, Hunter, a radarman on the British Royal Navy light cruiser "Sheffield", patrolling the outer edge of Scapa Bay, suddenly spotted countless snowflake-shaped spots on the green radar screen - this is an air search radar screen!

Although the British radar was in the lead during World War II, it is September 1939 after all, and it has not been long before the radar has been put into use. As a result, the vast majority of British warships were not equipped with radars. Only a few "air defense escorts" (in fact, a modified destroyer) and a few light cruisers had radars installed on them.

The light cruiser Sheffield, which entered service in 1937, was one of the few British warships to be equipped with an anti-aircraft search radar. However, the radar installed on the "Sheffield" was only an experimental product, and the quality was not too good, and the really good British shipborne radar would not appear in large quantities until 1940 and 1941.

Therefore, Hunter's first reaction after discovering the abnormality of the radar screen was not that an enemy plane was coming, but that the radar was broken.

"Report on the situation." Captain Sean, the radar chief, who was looking through a document, asked without looking up.

"Southeast...... To the southeast, about 25 miles, with a lot of targets, is rapidly approaching ......"

"What? I'll take a look! Captain Sean immediately put down the papers and walked over to the radar screen. I only saw countless snowflake-shaped dots densely connected together, approaching at a rapid speed.

"Is it an airplane?" Sean asked.

"No," replied Hunter, the radarman, "there are only a few points on the plane, how can they be connected?" ”

"Is it a lot of planes?"

"A lot? There aren't a handful of planes at the Naval Air Station at Scapa Bay......"

Captain Sean suddenly thought of something and shouted, "Germans, Germans!" ”

"German planes? What are they doing in Scapa Bay? Radar soldier Hunter didn't react at once. His boss, Captain Sean, had already picked up the telephone receiver and yelled.

"Enemy aircraft spotted! To the southeast, there are a lot of them! The Germans are coming! ”

……

“…… There is no doubt that we in the Royal Navy are the most powerful armed force in the history of mankind, we govern the world's seas, and we are the guardians of the greatest and most civilized empire of mankind. Any ...... who tries to challenge our authority Woowoo woo ......"

Churchill was speaking under the turret of the battleship "Nelson" to a group of British naval officers and men in neat uniforms. Of course, the final "woo-woo-woo...... did not come from the mouth of Admiralty Chancellor Churchill.

This is the sound of air defense sirens!

"What's going on?" The Admiralty Chancellor was very surprised, and looked at Sir Pound, the First Sea Lord, who was also a little stunned, "What is broken?" ”

"Mr. Chancellor, this sound sounds like an air raid siren...... "Sir Pound spoke while the air raid sirens were still ringing on the Nelson.

A fleet staff officer who had stayed in the command tower ran over as if he were flying, gasping for breath and shouting: "Germans, the Germans are coming!" ”

"What?" Forbes, the commander of the Home Fleet, hurriedly asked, "Found the German fleet?" Where are they? ”

"It's not the German fleet," the staff officer looked alarmed, "it's their planes!" Their planes are coming! ”

"The planes of the Germans? Where is it? How many are there? ”

"There are a lot of them, and it's almost Scapa Bay!" "They were spotted by the Sheffield's radar 10 minutes ago, less than 40 miles from the bay, and 5 minutes ago our watchtower spotted them," said the staff officer, quick and anxious, "and our watchtower spotted them five minutes ago......"

Admiral Forbes and Sir Pound both opened their mouths wide and could not say anything for a while. However, the Admiral Churchill was calmer and said loudly: "Great, the Germans have come to send them to death, sir, admiral, I think the home fleet is ready now, right?" ”

"Of course!" Admiral Forbes hurriedly replied, "We are ready!" ”

Unlike the U.S. Pacific Fleet in the Pearl Harbor attack in history, the British Home Fleet has long been in the highest state of combat readiness. Scapa Bay, where the fleet was concentrated, was not a peacetime garrison, but a wartime anchorage, from which they could attack the North Sea to engage the German fleet trying to break through the blockade.

From this point of view, the Battle of Scapa Bay was not a "surprise attack" or "sneak attack", but a dignified battle!

"Sir, please escort the Admiralty to the Officers' Lounge." Admiral Forbes was tempted to let Churchill and Sir Pound go, but enemy planes were imminent, and it was even more dangerous to leave the battleship with armored protection.

Forbes saluted the two of them, "Mr. Chancellor, sir, now I'm going to command the battle!" ”

……

"No enemy aircraft were found, no enemy aircraft were found!"

Commander of the 1st Combat Flying Regiment of the German Naval Aviation, Werner. Major Molders stared at the clear, cloud-free, and empty sky in front of him, and shouted, "The surprise attack was successful!" The surprise attack has been successful! God bless Germany! ”

His voice was transmitted through the radio waves to an Fw-200C reconnaissance plane at an altitude of 5,000 meters, and the commander of the German naval aviation, Vice Admiral Graeme, slapped him sharply: "Great, we succeeded!" ”

Then he picked up the intercom and said loudly, "Now let's get moving!" Begin 'Operation High Seas Fleet' (air raid codename) and avenge the destruction of the High Seas Fleet in Scapa Bay! Remember, hurry up, you must complete the evacuation of all air raids within 30 minutes! ”

Although there is no British Air Force airfield near Scarpa Bay, there are several airfields in the north of Scotland, and perhaps in less than 30 minutes 1 or 2 squadrons of British fighters will fly over! If it drags on too long, I'm afraid more British planes will arrive!

The dense group of planes in the sky, hearing his order, immediately dispersed. The 56 Fokker Zeros flying at the front scattered into 14 four-finger formations. They then split into two brigades (each consisting of seven four-fingered formations) and flew along the edge of Scapa Bay over the islands that make up Scapa Bay, such as Mainland Island, Haw Island, and South Ronase Island. Their task is to search for and attack any British aircraft, if they exist.

Bombers and torpedo planes also began to form formations, with the He-111 taking the lead, forming a formation of 22 5-planes, and then roaring towards Scapa Bay, followed by 86 Ju.88 bombers and 84 He-115 torpedo bombers...... (To be continued.) )