Big trouble is finally here!

The news of the departure of the battleships "Scharnhorst" and "Seydlitz" from Wilhelmshaven reached the new flagship of the Home Fleet "Revenge" (because the "Nelson" and "Rodney" were under repair) anchored at Portland Military Harbor (in the English Channel). Admiral Forbes's brain suddenly swelled with pain.

Ever since the "Scapa Bay victory," the Home Fleet Command has been worried about the two German capital ships rushing into the Atlantic Ocean to do something wrong. Although the German submarines had already caused a lot of damage in September, the submarines were injured by the "linings" of the British Empire, and the capital ship formation was wounded by the overbearing nature of the Atlantic.

Moreover, judging by the common perception, the activities of German submarines did not fall under the category of actions for sea supremacy. No matter how many merchant ships they sank, it was an act of sabotage and sneak attack. And the actions of German battleships and aircraft carriers in the Atlantic undoubtedly meant that the British Navy had lost part of its sea supremacy.

If the British Empire had nothing to do with these two German capital ships that were about to break through the ocean, it would be a great blow to the prestige of the British Empire!

But in Charles. According to Admiral Forbes, it seemed that the British Royal Navy would have a hard time dealing with these two difficult German capital ships.

Not only because of their speed and the terrifying carrier-based aircraft that could fight the Spitfire (the performance of the Fokker Zero in Scapa Sound shocked the RAF and Royal Navy, and the British did not expect the Zero's huge range and therefore assumed that they took off from an aircraft carrier), but also because of the lethal power shown by the German shore-based bomber group in the Battle of Scapa Bay!

The range of activity of the capital ships of the British Royal Navy during the day in the North Sea is now strictly limited to areas where shore-based Spitfire fighters can provide effective cover. After all, even the mighty "Spitfire" seems to be difficult to fight against the Fokker Zero, and other British aircraft are even less of an opponent.

If there was not enough "Spitfire" cover, the British fleet would have been slaughtered by German bombers and torpedo planes.

This also means that at least half of the North Sea's sea control has actually been given to Germany!

"Admiral, the enemy will pass through the waters near Shetland tomorrow night, and it is estimated that they will pass through the waters between Shetland and Norway." Rear Admiral Phillips, Chief of Staff of the Home Fleet, had already estimated the approximate time of the German fleet's passage through Shetland by this time.

The Ornik Islands, where Shetland and Scapa Bay are located, were two major British bases for blocking the North Sea-Atlantic shipping lane, and the Royal Navy had air stations in both places. After the Scarpa Bay Air Raid, one Spitfire squadron belonging to each of the Royal Air Force was deployed at the airfields of the two naval air stations.

However, the Spitfire had a limited range, and German warships could use the cover of night to quickly sail through the waters near the Shetland Islands.

"They can run at least 300 nautical miles in one night!" Charles. Admiral Forbes shook his head, "Although it can't be out of the 'Spitfire' range, there must be that kind of Fokker Zero fighters on the other side's aircraft carriers, they are difficult to deal with, and they are enough to cover the fleet away from the Shetland Islands." Maybe we can stay away from Shetland before our reconnaissance planes find out, or maybe ...... They will encounter a stormy weather. ”

"Admiral, we should have an interception fleet south of Iceland and one north of Iceland, and an interception fleet in the northwest of Ireland......"

Charles. Forbes immediately said: "With the 'Prestige,' 'Sovereign,' and 'Hundred-Eyed' as the core, the F Fleet will be deployed north of Iceland, the G Fleet with the 'Hood' and 'Ark Royal' as the core, and the flagship of the Home Fleet, 'Revenge' and 'Resolve,' will form the I Fleet and immediately rush to the northwest waters of Ireland." ”

The aftermath of the loss of three fast aircraft carriers has been revealed!

At present, the British Navy has only four working aircraft carriers, of which the "Eagle", which was deployed in the Indian Ocean before the war, has just arrived in the Mediterranean, and the "Athletic", which was deployed in the Far East before the war, was on its way to the Atlantic when the war began. Hence Charles. Of the three detachments sent by Forbes, Fleet I (the fleet commanded by Admiral Forbes) was not covered by aircraft carriers.

Fortunately, the German aircraft carrier "Seckert" has not yet been commissioned, otherwise this time a two-aircraft carrier formation will be dispatched, and the I fleet, which does not have a single aircraft carrier, will be bombed all over the place.

"In addition, the Mediterranean Fleet is requested to send a detachment of the 'Eagle' into the Atlantic." Charles. Admiral Forbes finally commanded, "Now, put the flag up: England needs everyone to do their job!" ”

……

"Marshal, weather briefing." Hans. Specidar now sends a weather bulletin every two hours - not from Berlin, but for Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Shetland Islands - to Field Marshal Hersmann.

The "First Atlantic Fleet", which is now on strike, is basically watching the sky and eating. If the wind is high and the waves are high, then breaking into the Atlantic is no problem. As soon as they entered the Atlantic, the British were in big trouble, because this "broken fleet" was with aircraft carriers!

Although there were only 9 Fokker 99s, and the bomb load was not large, they could carry only one PC-250 bomb (250 kg armor-piercing shell) or one SC-250 (250 kg high-explosive bomb). The threat to the battleship was limited, and it was estimated that the "Ark Royal" would not be blown up. But the British convoy was miserable when it met them -- they could not only drop bombs, but also act as reconnaissance aircraft, with a combat radius of more than 400 kilometers. The search range is much larger than that of the radars on the "Scharnhorst" and "Seydlitz".

Even if the British were lucky, the weather in the Atlantic Ocean was bad and the planes could not fly. The 9 280mm cannons of the "Scharnhorst" were not a joke either. Any convoy without the escort of battleships is a dead end!

If the British could not block the "Scharnhorst" and "Seydlitz" back into the North Sea, then they would have to escort the convoy with aircraft carriers and battleships. However, Britain now has only four usable aircraft carriers, of which the "Ark Royal" has to be accompanied by the "Hood" to act as a rapid strike force for the British home fleet.

There are 3 slow aircraft carriers left, and 3 equally slow battleships are paired, so let's play with escorts in the future!

Hersman glanced at the weather bulletin - Iceland was rainy, the Faroe Islands were cloudy and overcast, and the sea conditions were all 4-5, which was not very good.

"Is there any update on the USSR and Poland?" Hersman put down the weather bulletin and asked about the Second Soviet-Polish War.

It is now October 7, and the Second Soviet-Polish War has been fought for more than 20 days, and the great Soviet Red Army certainly has the upper hand. On the battlefield in Ukraine, Kyiv, the largest city in Ukraine, has been besieged for 10 days, and Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr, the important cities of right-bank Ukraine, have been liberated by the Red Army.

And in the Western Belarusian theater, most of the territory has already been planted with red flags, and the main forces of the Polish army have been compressed to the Brest fortress area east of the Bug River. And the campaign to liberate Brest began on October 5!

"Yes," said Hans. "Miss Leshinskaya has just sent a telegram that she has just taken our military observers on a tour of the battlefield of Teresi Village on the front line on the north bank of the Mukhavets River this morning and found more than 100 charred and blackened Soviet tanks, most of them light tanks of the T-26 and BT series, and 11 T-28 tanks destroyed," Spaydar said. ”

The Battle of the Village of Teres was a fierce encounter on 6 October, in which the Soviet Red Army launched a fierce attack with a large number of tanks to cover the infantry in an attempt to tear apart the Polish defensive line. The Polish army mobilized a large number of 7TP tanks and 37mm guns (towed by 7TP tanks) to reinforce the defenders of the village of Terres.

"So the Poles really won?" Hersman picked up the already cold coffee on the table and took a sip, "Looks like their 7TP tank isn't bad." ”

"Marshal, I don't think it's that the Poles' tanks work well, it's that they have the right tactics." Hans. "The Poles used the tanks as anti-tank guns that could move quickly, and immediately after determining the direction of the main attack of the Red Army, they threw in tank units for reinforcements," Spaydar said. Moreover, they also built tank-ready bunkers on the reserve positions in advance, so they achieved good results.

In addition, the 'killer' T-28 tank used by the Soviet Red Army in this battle was somewhat strong and capable, and its frontal protection capability was insufficient, and it was easily penetrated by the 7TP tank's 37mm gun, which was also the reason for the setback of the Soviet Red Army's offensive. If the frontal armor of the T-28 tank could withstand the 37mm gun, then yesterday's fierce battle would have been won by the Russians. ”

"The Russians fought a few more times, and the Poles were finished," Hersman said with a blank face, "and they must have suffered a lot of losses in the battle of October 6." The Soviets could produce a couple of thousand tanks per year, and the Poles had only 7TP? Can't afford to consume. ”

"Field Marshal," Hans. "Miss Leshinskaya hopes that we can give the Poles some assistance, so that they can hold out a little longer," said Speedard. ”

"Assistance?" Hersman smacked his lips, "Fix all the 37mm guns and TKS tanks we captured, and hand them over to them immediately...... The TKS small tank could be used to tow a 37mm gun. As for other aid, well, after all, we have a special friendship with the Soviet Union, and we cannot directly give military aid to Poland. However, if the Poles were willing to let our company take over their military factories, it would help them to improve their technology and increase production. (To be continued.) )