On September 3, 1939, at 1 p.m. GMT - 12 noon Berlin time, Hitler had received an ultimatum one hour earlier.

British Admiralty Chancellor Winston. Churchill is at the desolate, breezy Scapa Bay Naval Base. In an hour, an hour and a half at most, the British Empire will declare war on the German Empire, the most evil country in the world.

That is why Churchill arrived in the bay where the main force of the Home Fleet was located ahead of schedule, and after the official declaration of war, he would deliver an exciting speech to the officers and men of the entire fleet on the battleship "Nelson", the flagship of the Home Fleet.

And now, in the lavish officers' lounge of the "Nelson", he is in peace with First Sea Secretary Dudley. Pickman. Rogers. Sir Pound, and the commander of the Home Fleet, Charles Brown. Admiral Forbes had lunch together.

Although the wind and waves in the bay are not small, sitting in a huge battleship with a full load displacement of 38000 tons, only slight ups and downs can be felt.

"Chancellor," Admiral Forbes, who had just finished his fragrant seafood soup and, while waiting for the food to be served, reported to Churchill the plans for the home fleet after the start of the war.

"The Channel detachment consisting of HMS Hood, HMS Determination and HMS Revenge is already on its way to the English Channel under the escort of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, the light cruiser USS Alola, and two destroyers. Together with the French Navy, they were to be responsible for blocking Germany's sea lines of communication. ”

The blockade has always been a sharp weapon of the British Navy against Germany, and in the last world war, the British Navy successfully blocked the German Navy at its doorstep. And this time, Britain still wanted to use the blockade strategy to strangle Germany.

Sir Pound, First Sea Lord, added: "The German navy is much weaker today than it was in 1914, and they have only two battlecruisers armed with 280mm guns, so two battleships 'Resolve' and 'Revenge' are enough to blockade the English Channel." Moreover, we still have shore-based aviation at our disposal in the English Channel, from where the Germans are extremely unlikely to break through.

Now we are facing a problem mainly with the tactics of breaking diplomatic relations with the Germans, whose submarines are most likely already lurking in the Atlantic. And their capital ships, after completing the task of blockading Danze Bay, may also disperse and break into the Atlantic. ”

Churchill snorted: "The convoy system must be activated as soon as possible, and the survival of the empire is at stake." In addition, air and sea patrols must be strengthened to prevent German ships from breaking through the North Sea into the Atlantic. ”

It is not enough for the Germans to pull out the two "Scharnhorst" class to fight a decisive battle in the fleet, but with their high speed, once they break through to the Atlantic, they are two great scourges.

"Rest assured, the Navy has had a plan for a long time, and now it just needs to follow it."

"We now have 74 old destroyers left over from the First World War, as well as new destroyers built after the war, including HMS Amazon, HMS Ambush (these are two prototype ships), A-CLASS, B-class, C-class, D-class, E-class, F-class, G-class, H-class, I-class (9 ships of each class), 'Tribal' class (16 ships), J-class (8 ships)...... A total of 184 destroyers are currently in service, which is much less than the 447 at the end of the last war, but still enough to cope with escort missions. In addition, there are currently 8 K-class, N-class, L-class, and M-class ships under construction or planned to be built. If German submarine activity is rampant, an 'emergency construction' will also be arranged. In short, there will never be a situation where evictions are insufficient. ”

This is the essence of the century-old navy! Although the number of battleships (battlecruisers) in Britain is not comparable to that of before the First World War (Dreadnought 20, Battlecruiser 9, and Former Dreadnought 40), with only 12 battleships and 3 battlecruisers (and 5 King George V-class battleships under construction), aircraft carriers are not too many, only 6 (with several more under construction).

But the number of British cruisers and destroyers was still very large, with as many as 184 destroyers and 64 cruisers in service - including 15 heavy cruisers and 49 light cruisers, in addition to a number of old cruisers left over from the First World War and a large number of cruisers under construction.

In addition, Britain's submarine force is not small, with as many as 57 submarines of various types.

In contrast, the German Navy's surface ships were far behind. Not to mention the quality, the quantity alone is at a great disadvantage.

So far, there are only 2 battleships in service, 3 armored ships (about the same combat power as the British heavy cruisers), 6 light cruisers, 1 aircraft carrier ("Seydlitz"), 21 Z-type destroyers, and 12 Beast/Raptor-class mine-strike ships (more than 800 tons, much larger than torpedo boats, barely able to act as offshore destroyers).

At this point, it is not enough to be a "presence fleet". Therefore, Admiral Raeder never thought about competing with the British Navy for sea supremacy, and all his thoughts were on the sea raid battle. The route is good, but it's a pity that Admiral Raeder in this time and space met a group of naval aviation commanders who had transferred from the Air Force and had very strange ideas.

On September 3, 1939, at 1 p.m. (Berlin time), Field Marshal Raeder and Commander of the Supreme Command of the Navy (in charge of operations in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea) Otto Brown. Admiral Schnewynd drove from the headquarters in Wilhelmshaven to the nearby Wilhelmshaven Naval Air Base.

By the time they arrived, the naval aviation base was already in the highest state of combat readiness. On the huge Airfield No. 1 (Naval Aviation Airfield No. 1), 56 Zero fighters and 81 He-115C (shore-based) and 2 Fw-200C long-range maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft are ready for action.

Two of the Fw-200Cs on battlefield observation missions were already on the runway waiting for take-off orders -- the task of these two large reconnaissance planes was to "lead the way." The nearly 900-kilometre journey from Wilwillemshaven Airport (there are three of them, namely HNA 1, 2 and 3) to Scarpa Bay, almost all of which are at sea, is a challenge for pilots.

On the British carrier-based aircraft of the same era, there were navigators (so the British carrier-based aircraft had at least two seats). And the German naval aviation, which had not been formed for a long time and did not have a lot of experience in flying at sea, took a different path and came up with the method of "pilot aircraft". This time, the fighter formation, the torpedo formation, the dive bomber formation (Ju.88) and the horizontal bomber formation (He-111) were each equipped with an Fw-200C.

All four Fw-200Cs were piloted by experienced veteran HNAs, who had flown the Fw-200Cs to and from Scapa Bay several times in the months leading up to the war. In addition to pilotage missions, the four Fw-200Cs also carry aerial photography equipment and can film engagements at an altitude of 5,000 meters. The obtained video data will serve as a reference for the future combat training of the German naval aviation, and will also be released to the public at the right time in order to obtain political and diplomatic benefits.

……

"Marshal, Commander Graeme will be on the battlefield in Fw-200C." In the HNA command building in Wilhelmshaven, HNA Chief of Staff Wolfgang. Feng. Rear Admiral Richthofen told Marshal Raeder, "according to the plan, all aircraft will take off in 20 minutes, at 1:30 a.m., 56 Fokker Zeros, 84 He-115s, 110 He-111s and 86 Ju.88s will form a group of attack aircraft, and at 4:30 p.m. the group will fly to Scapa Bay in the Orkney Islands, the northernmost part of the British Scotland region." It will then take 30 minutes to complete the air raid, return home at 5 a.m. at the latest, return to Wilhelmshaven Airport at 8 p.m., and all planes will land at 8:30 p.m. ”

This is quite a challenging plan of attack! The continuous flight time alone is as long as 7 hours, and the average continuous flight distance of each aircraft is more than 2,000 kilometers!

And when the plane returned, it was already 8 o'clock in the evening. The aircraft must be guided by the lights on the ground to land. At the same time, it is also necessary to pay attention to the retaliatory bombing by British planes -- the HNA Command estimated that the British would probably become angry and send planes to attack Wilhelmshaven at night after being bombed. Of course, it is also possible that the British will make the same calculation and attack the German naval bases with air strikes!

Therefore, at the same time as this surprise attack, the Naval Aviation Command also mobilized 74 BF-110s and 36 Fokker Zeros (piloted by supplementary pilots) to stay at the three major airfields in Wilhelmshaven. In addition, more than 100 anti-aircraft guns were deployed around the three major airfields in Wilhelmshaven for air defense.

"Well, what a desperate move!" Marshal Raeder and Otto. Admiral Schnewend looked at each other, and they were not really opposed to the development of naval aviation. However, we absolutely cannot agree with this kind of combat operation in which hundreds of advanced aircraft are put on a bet.

"So, how many British ships are waiting to be bombed in Scarpa Bay right now?" Otto. Admiral Schnewynd asked.

Wolfgang. Feng. Rear Admiral Richthofen replied: "At present, there are three battleships such as the 'Nelson,' the 'Royal Oak,' and the 'Sovereign,' two battle cruisers 'Prestige' and 'Counterattack,' three aircraft carriers such as the 'Fury,' 'Brave,' and 'Glorious,' and at least 10 cruisers and 20 destroyers, as well as dozens of auxiliary ships and training ships of various kinds......

Marshal Raeder nodded, and suddenly said in a serious tone: "Now give me Commander Graeme, I have the latest order from the Navy General Command to issue." ”

"Orders?" Wolfgang. Feng. Major General Richthofen was stunned.

"The plane can take off, but whether or not to carry out an air strike must be personally ordered by me to attack or cancel the operation by 4:30 p.m. This is an order from the Ministry of Defense! (To be continued.) )