At 5 p.m. on December 8, shortly after the flag of the commander of the Allied Combined Fleet was raised on the battleship USS Soviet, the huge ship formation on the sea began to diverge. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Info12 aging Anglo-American battleships joined the NR21 fleet, while the main forces of the Allied Combined Fleet began to accelerate eastward.

Of course, the division of forces at sea could not hide from the radar on the JU288 in the sky, and the news was soon telegraphed to the battleship Hindenburg, the flagship of the European Combined Fleet, which was approaching Iceland.

Admiral Lütjans was standing at the window of the bridge at this time, and by the dim light outside, he watched several 1935 minestorms drag aluminum foil hydrogen balloons in the direction of Reykjavik Harbour - these aluminum foil hydrogen balloons are specially made, and they look like battleships on the radar screen!

Marshal Lütjans sent them out in order to lure the American shore artillery at Sandgelzi (on a peninsula) to open fire. In order to allow the JU288 in the sky to find the target, and then use the remote control glide bomb to destroy it.

According to intelligence, the Americans made a twin 406mm caliber armored turret that could rotate 360 degrees on the battery in Sandgelzi. If it is not destroyed, it will be a bit dangerous for the German fleet to get closer.

So tonight (in fact, there is no difference between night and day in Iceland during this season), German naval aviation will send 72 JU288 night bombers (not high-altitude) and 60 HE219 long-range night fighters (with radar and auxiliary fuel tanks, with a range of nearly 3,500 km) to take off from bases on the island of Ireland to Icelandic bombing airfields and batteries.

"Oh, the division?" Without looking back, Marshal Lütjans asked, "Do you know the specific situation?" ”

"I don't know this," said the Chief of Staff of the Fleet, William. Messer shook his head, "JU288's radar isn't that bright. ”

"Will you be able to get the He-115 on the Suez Canal?" Marshal Lütjans asked.

The Suez is also a D-aircraft, that is, a seaplane carrier converted from the C-hull, which carries 15 HE-115 seaplanes (3 spare). The seaplane carrier is now cruising less than 300 nautical miles south of the Arctic Circle route, ready to send seaplanes to attack or reconnoiter - these seaplanes are not as valuable as the JU288 and can drop flares at lower altitudes. Instead, 12 can be sent at a time, and a sufficient number of flares can be dropped.

"Reach." William. Messer replied.

"Then send out to reconnoitre," commanded Admiral Lütjans. "Be sure to find out what the specifics are."

According to intelligence, the combined fleet of the Central Powers had 25-28 battleships, which was very powerful! Among them, the cutting-edge battleships are the South Dakota class, the Soviet Union, the Kronstadt class, and the King George V class. Among them, there are 2 ships in the South Dakota class, 4 ships in the Soviet class, 2 ships in the Kronstadt class, and 3 ships in the King George V class, making a total of 11 ships.

Among these 11 cutting-edge battleships, the four Soviet-class battleships with 406mm caliber guns and a full load displacement of up to 65,000 tons were the most valued by Roosevelt. These four battleships seem to be the second most powerful battleships in the world, both in terms of the caliber of their main guns and in terms of tonnage, and as long as they do not meet the Japanese Yamato-class, they should be invincible.

But...... The German military, on the other hand, had the opposite view of Mr. Roosevelt, believing that the four Soviet-class ships were nothing more than a foreign power. It can't compare to the Yamato class at all, and it can't beat the Hindenburg class, even if it meets Italy's Veneto class, France's Richelieu class and Germany's Bismarck class, most of them are not opponents.

The Soviet-class 406mm guns could penetrate the broadside main armor belts of the Veneto-class, Richelieu-class and Bismarck-class, while the 380mm guns of these 3 classes of battleships could also penetrate the Soviet-class main armor belts!

This is not a guess, the Soviet-class was designed with the help of the Italian company Ansaldo and built with the help of the German Naval Armament Agency! The main gun system and power system of this class of battleships were purchased from Germany, while the steel used in shipbuilding was imported from Germany in a small part, and most of it was produced by itself. Among them, the most critical façade armor steel, horizontal armor steel and lightning protection armor steel are all produced by the introduction of German technology.

However, what Germany transferred to the Soviet Union was not its own K/A surface carburizing and hardening alloy steel, but the KC armor steel technology developed by Krupp in 1895 (the core technology could not be bought after all), and the bulletproof ability of KC armor steel was far inferior to that of K/A armor steel developed in 1928.

Moreover, according to the reconnaissance of German intelligence, the Soviets did not actually fully master the technology of KC armor steel and could not produce KC armor steel over 200mm, so all armor steel plates with a thickness of more than 200mm were case-hardened steel with a simple process. Although they have a total weight of more than 23,306 tons of armor (a little more than the Yamato class), and the thickest side armor even reaches 420mm, the actual bulletproof ability is not as good as the 320mm armor of the Bismarck class, the 330mm armor of the Hindenburg class, and the 328mm armor of the Richelieu class, not to mention the 360mm armor of the Veneto class.

"Marshal, the seaplane has ascertained the details of the enemy fleet heading for Iceland." At 8 p.m., William. Vice Admiral Messer reported on the reconnaissance results of the He-115 seaplanes sent by the USS Suez seaplane carrier, "11 battleships, very fast, all of them cutting-edge battleships, 4 of which were determined to be of the Soviet class. ”

"11 ......," said Marshal Lütjans, snapping his fingers, "we have 2 Hindenburg-class, 2 Bismarck-class, 2 Richelieu-class, 4 Veneto-class, 2 Barbarossa-class, and 1 Gneisenau to fight, so it's 13 to 11!" ”

William. Messer reminded: "Marshal, we also have 3 missile cruisers and 4 V-class missile boats, so the advantage is entirely on our side!" ”

……

"Comrade General Secretary, a telegram from the Soviet Union." Marshal Pavlov, Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, cautiously walked into the war room of the Supreme High Command in the Kremlin and reported to Stalin, who was studying the map of the situation on the Soviet-German front, what he had just learned.

"The Allied Combined Fleet Command decided to go to war with the German-controlled European Combined Fleet in the waters west of Iceland." Pavlov said, "Comrade Kuznetsov said in the telegram that our side is much stronger than its opponents, so victory is expected. ”

"Oh." Stalin replied in a low voice, his eyes still fixed on the map. "Victory at sea is expected, but what about on land? The Battle of Leningrad, the Battle of Warsaw and the Battle of Kiev, and the tug-of-war on the Belarusian front...... In four large-scale battles, millions of troops have been invested, how sure is it? ”

"Comrade General Secretary, Warsaw can definitely be held, and there will be no big problems on the Belarusian front." Marshal Pavlov pondered and said, "But the battle of Kiev and the liberation of Leningrad are, to be honest, not very certain. ”

"Not sure?" Stalin's brow furrowed, and with his right hand he put the mouthpiece of his carved pipe into his mouth, took a large puff, and then puffed out a cloud of smoke.

"Yes," said Marshal Pavlov, nodding slightly, "the South-Western Front is now weak, and the reactionary elements of the right-bank Ukraine are very rampant, and the situation is very unfavorable. And Leningrad...... The Germans were obviously besieging the city and sending reinforcements, which was very unfavorable. ”

Stalin was silent, apparently lost in thought. After a while, he suddenly asked, "What about Ireland?" Is it possible for Britain and the United States to win in Ireland? ”

"The key to Ireland is at sea." Marshal Pavlov said, "As long as we can defeat the Germans at sea, American ground and air power will continue to arrive in Ireland." At the same time, the German logistics line would be threatened by our fleet, so that victory in the Battle of Ireland was assured. ”

Stalin did not speak again, but raised his hand and waved. Pavlov took a few playful steps back, then turned away.

"Call Comrade Beria for a moment." As soon as Pavlov left, Stalin whispered a command.

Beria soon came to the war room and stood beside Comrade Stalin with great respect.

"We now need a channel to reach out to the Germans." As soon as Stalin opened his mouth, Beria was taken aback.

However, he quickly asked quietly: "Comrade General Secretary, where do you want to get in touch?" ”

"Hitler and Hersmann, both sides need to be contacted." Stalin said lightly.

"So...... What about the level of contact? ”

"Informally, and at the same time able to communicate with Hitler and Hersmann." Stalin groaned, "The people around Hersman can go and find Natalie...... It's best to catch up before the end of the Irish campaign. ”

"Comrade General Secretary, are there any conditions?" Beria guessed that Stalin most likely thought that Britain and the United States would win in Ireland. In this way, the general situation in Europe would be the same as it had been at the height of Napoleon's empire, which was an acceptable bottom line for the Soviet Union - in fact, Stalin would not have gone to war with Germany had it not been for the landing of Germany in Ireland, which showed the possibility of defeating Britain soon.

"No compensation, no land." Stalin said that "the Soviet Union could also help regulate Anglo-German relations...... A tripartite mutual guarantee treaty between Britain and the Soviet Union and Germany could be signed to maintain the tripartite balance of power between Britain, Germany and the Soviet Union in Europe. (To be continued.) )