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[Today's first shift, there will be a second shift in the evening, so stay tuned]

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After the Battle of the Gulf of Finland, the German Navy suspended military operations in the Gulf of Finland. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info╔╗

This is mainly due to the fact that Horn mentioned the huge role of the aircraft carrier battle group in his report to Hitler. He pointed out that the German aircraft carriers were actually the protagonists and the biggest contributors in this operation, and that most of the Soviet warships were sunk by carrier-based aircraft, and that Horn was able to win the victory, all of which were due to the aircraft carrier battle group. At the same time, he also supported the Soviet Navy in sending three escort aircraft carriers at the last moment, which posed a huge threat to the German naval warships, which was why Horn had to retreat voluntarily.

Hitler immediately convened a high-level meeting of the German Navy, at which Reeder, commander-in-chief of the German Navy, spoke highly of the outstanding performance of the German Navy's aircraft carriers in this naval battle, and he supported Horn's viewpoint, holding that the argument that the Chinese Empire had been advocating that the aircraft carrier battle group was a chicken rib should actually be the military deception and misleading of the Chinese Empire to the outside world, and the purpose was to make the navies of various countries not pay attention to the great role of aircraft carriers in naval warfare.

There were also some German admirals who objected, insisting on the battleship victory theory of giant ships and cannons, but when Horn said, "Then how do you explain why the Chinese Empire still retains nine aircraft carrier battle groups?" ”

Heinrich of the OKW Intelligence Bureau also added on the side: "The top-secret information just obtained, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the Chinese Empire, the Taishan, has been launched. It is said that the construction of such a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will cost at least a billion dragon coins! ”

Raeder then said, "That's enough to tell!" If the Chinese Empire really does not attach importance to aircraft carrier operations. So why are they spending such huge sums of money on building aircraft carriers? If they don't pay attention, why keep nine aircraft carrier battle groups? ”

After listening to this, Albert Sbel's tone had weakened, but he still retorted: "Hasn't the official Chinese Empire already explained? The reason why these aircraft carrier battle groups are still preserved. ╔╗ is because they feel that the cost of dismantling is too high, and they are just used to deal with second- and third-rate countries. ”

Horn snorted coldly: "You are also engaged in politics, can you believe what they say?" ”

Albert was speechless.

Rudolph coughed. "Watch the words! ”

At this point, Hitler nodded. "I believe Horn's judgment is correct!" The Chinese Empire is accustomed to political deception, and it is likely that they have been deliberately misleading us in the wrong direction! ”

Raeder said: "Your Excellency, although I agree with Horn, I cannot completely abandon the dominant position of the battleship. I think it cannot be ruled out that it was the insufficient anti-aircraft fire of the fleet of the USSR Navy that led to the fact that our carrier-based aircraft could easily destroy their lead ships. If it is replaced by the Chinese Imperial Navy, their capital ships have a powerful Vulcan air defense phalanx system, plus the Chinese Aegis air defense heavy cruisers and other fleet air defense firepower, the success rate of our carrier-based aircraft penetrating the defense is very low. ”

Hitler nodded. "So what do you mean?" ”

Raeder thought for a moment and said, "I suggest that the Imperial Navy should grasp both battleships and aircraft carriers, with battleships enhancing air defense capabilities, and aircraft carriers increasing the number of carrier-based aircraft to improve their penetration capabilities." Regardless of whether the Imperial Chinese Navy is engaged in military deception or not, we are ready. ”

It is clear that Raeder was balancing the differences within the German Navy over battleships and aircraft carriers. ╔╗

Hitler thought about it and nodded in agreement.

meeting. Hitler agreed to the proposal of the German Navy to create a special aircraft carrier battle group. Because four German escort aircraft carriers sank at once in the Battle of the Gulf of Finland, the other two were wounded and had to return to their German home port for repairs, while the other Charlotte-class aircraft carrier was on a mission in the Arctic Ocean to break diplomatic relations and could not support the Baltic Sea battle. In this way, the German Navy in the Baltic Sea had no aircraft carriers available, although the Soviet Navy suffered heavy losses. However, it was protected by three aircraft carriers, and the air defense capabilities of the German fleet were also not effective against the attacks of Soviet aircraft carriers, so the German Navy had to temporarily abandon military operations in the Gulf of Finland.

In addition, the German Navy has not paid attention to the development of aircraft carriers before, although there are seven Charlotte-class escort aircraft carriers, but the carrier-based aircraft are produced less than 300 units, in the Gulf of Finland naval battle lost more than 230 at once, and the replenishment of carrier-based aircraft also takes several months, which led the German Navy to suspend the plan to find a decisive battle with the Soviet Navy.

After Hitler's nod, the German Navy then attached importance to aircraft carriers, and in the shipyards on the German mainland, the German Navy immediately dismounted the construction plan of a number of heavy cruisers and changed to the construction of aircraft carriers, and at the same time, the German Navy will carry out aircraft carrier refitting of Allied merchant ships intercepted in the North Atlantic.

Since October 1941, the German Navy has started construction of the Prince Oscar class aircraft carrier in major shipyards in the country, which is based on the Charlotte Princess class, after the hull is enlarged, the deck is lengthened and refitted. Its design displacement has been upgraded from the original 20,000-ton light escort aircraft carrier to a 40,000-ton medium-sized main battle aircraft carrier.

The first seven Oscar prince-class medium aircraft carriers were built and named after the seven children of Kaiser Wilhelm II, which was also Hitler's request, because Hitler had always received strong support from Wilhelm II in the Netherlands, and Hitler reciprocated for this. ╔╗

The standard displacement of the seven Oscar prince-class aircraft carriers is different, because during the construction process, German engineers continued to improve and upgrade, so that the largest William Jr. has a displacement of more than 47,000 tons, a total of 130 propeller fighters, bombers, and reconnaissance aircraft, and a speed of more than 30 knots. The smallest is the Princess Louis, which is only about 38,000 tons and carries 92 propeller combat aircraft of various types. However, the speed was the fastest, reaching 33 knots.

It can be said that after the Germans attached great importance to the mother, a lot of experimental work was carried out. This allowed the German aircraft carrier design level to be quickly perfected.

Seven Oscar-class aircraft carriers were built in war mode, with the Oscar Prince, the quickest, to be completed by the end of 1942, and the latest aircraft carrier, William Jr., to be completed in the summer of 1943.

In addition to the construction of aircraft carriers, the German Navy paid attention to the construction of aircraft carriers. The requirements for carrier-based aircraft have also increased significantly. However, in terms of carrier-based aircraft. Germany's technical reserves are not enough. Germany wanted to introduce carrier-based aircraft technology from the Chinese Empire, but was strongly opposed by the Anglo-French Entente.

The Chinese Empire did not want to sell carrier-based aircraft technology to Germany, because it did not want to see Germany develop aircraft carrier combat capabilities. As a result, German naval aviation had to grope for carrier-based aircraft technology on their own. Fortunately, when the Luftwaffe attacked Leningrad, it shot down a number of carrier-based aircraft of the Soviet Naval Aviation, which was an advanced F4A carrier-based aircraft imported from the British Navy, and the German Army handed over the wreckage of the F4A carrier-based aircraft to the German Naval Aviation for study. In the ensuing battle with the Soviet Union in Leningrad. Soviet naval aviation had to take part in the defense of the city, and in the face of the sheer numerical superiority of the Luftwaffe, the J-10B series carrier-based aircraft of the Soviet naval aviation were quickly shot down by the Luftwaffe. ╔╗

In an air battle codenamed "Entrapment", the Luftwaffe sacrificed more than 40 Heinkel 119 fighters as bait in order to capture a complete J-10B carrier-based aircraft for the German naval aviation, and after consuming the fuel and ammunition of a J-10B carrier-based aircraft, forced the Soviet pilot to make a forced landing, and stopped the Soviet pilot before he tried to destroy the aircraft.

That's it. The German naval aviation obtained a complete J-10B carrier-based aircraft, which was carefully studied as if it had been a treasure. After a year-long reverse engineering research, it was finally successfully copied in early 1943, just in time for the Oscar Prince class aircraft carrier to be fully commissioned, so the German copycat J-10B carrier-based aircraft was put on the deck of the aircraft carrier.

The German Navy lost the support of escort aircraft carriers. Most of its capital ships had to return to their German home ports for major modifications of anti-aircraft artillery. The Germans dismantled many unimportant sea-attack guns and replaced them with anti-aircraft guns, so that the anti-aircraft firepower of the German Navy's capital ships after a series of modifications was greatly enhanced.

At the same time, the German Navy also stepped up its efforts to collect intelligence on the Vulcan Phalanx system of the Chinese Empire, and began to intensify its research. In order to enhance the fleet's anti-aircraft firepower, the German Navy has vigorously built the fleet's air defense cruisers and destroyers, and has successively started the construction of more than 60 such warships.

The changes in the German Navy after the Battle of the Gulf of Finland were very large, which caused great concern in naval circles around the world.

As far as the British Navy is concerned, they always keep an eye on the German Navy, and they will not let go of the slightest change or abnormality in the German Navy.

Previously, the British Royal Navy had not dared to fight the main fleet of the German Navy, which was caused by the deep wounds left by the Battle of Jutland. However, after the Battle of the Gulf of Finland, the British Royal Navy also discovered the great role of aircraft carriers, and the German Navy sank a large number of Soviet warships such as the ultimate battleship Lenin with aircraft carriers, and the Soviet aircraft carriers also inflicted heavy damage on the German fleet at the last moment, forcing the German fleet to withdraw voluntarily. ╔╗

Admiral Edmund, commander of the British Royal Navy, put forward a bold idea at a high-level naval conference, believing that the German Navy's air defense capability was insufficient to withstand the attack of the British naval aviation, and that the British Navy should take this opportunity to fight the German Navy and treat the aircraft carrier as a capital ship.

Admiral Edmund's proposal will obviously be opposed by the generals within the British Navy, and there are not a few generals in the British Navy who insist on the dominance of battleships, and if the aircraft carrier is used as the main ship of the fleet, then it is to let the general with air force flight experience take the command, and it is obvious that the British Navy is not willing to accept the command of the air general.

Churchill listened to the reports in detail, analyzed them from the perspective of the Imperial Chinese Navy, and finally followed the Imperial Chinese Navy's method of selecting aircraft carrier captains, that is, the commander of an aircraft carrier does not necessarily have to have experience in air force flights, and it is enough to have an air officer among the lieutenants. In this way, the chief officer of the aircraft carrier is still the admiral, and the aircraft carrier and carrier-based aircraft are under the jurisdiction of the navy, so there will be no struggle for power and rights within the navy.

After Churchill's mediation, the British Royal Navy decided to launch a tentative and active offensive. A task force with a mixture of battleships and aircraft carriers was put into battle with a detachment of the German Navy to test the true power of an aircraft carrier battle group.

"In the end, whether the Chinese Empire is deliberately misleading us or not, we will know after a war!"

Although the British Navy at the moment has more than two dozen aircraft carriers. However, the British Navy did not really attach importance to it, so that the British Navy has never dared to fight a decisive battle with the German Navy, and has never integrated aircraft carriers into the main fleet. Rather, let the aircraft carrier act as an escort.

In the North Atlantic, a British aircraft carrier was sunk by a German submarine. Since then, the British Navy has no longer let aircraft carriers escort ships, but has remained in the English Channel and the North Sea, responsible for intercepting Allied bomber groups from Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain in advance, and reducing the number of Allied aircraft flying to the British mainland.

When Churchill gave the order, the Royal Navy put 12 aircraft carriers into a task force and for the first time took the initiative to approach the coast of the Netherlands to find the German naval fleet near there to fight.

On November 23, 1941, the two ultimate battleships, the USS Frederick the Great (H42) and the USS Wilhelm II (H44). Escorted by several light cruisers, including the battlecruiser Gneisenau, the Karlsruhe, the Cologne, the Nuremberg, and Leipzig, as well as more than 20 submarines, they sailed from the Baltic Sea to enter the Arctic Ocean through the North Sea to attack the Arctic Ocean route where the Allies provided assistance to the Soviet Union.

At this time, Hitler had already noticed that the Anglo-French Entente was supporting the Soviet Union through the Arctic Ocean route, and although Hitler could not prevent the Chinese Empire from selling weapons to the Soviet Union by land and air, he could prevent Britain and France from providing aid to the Soviet Union from the sea. The former Soviet Union needed to spend a huge amount of money to buy from the Chinese Empire, and it was clear that the Soviet Union's foreign exchange reserves would always run out, after the Soviet Union ran out of money. There would have been no arms sales to the USSR. Hitler believed that the Chinese Empire sold weapons to the Soviet Union in order to make money, so he knew very well that the trade between the Chinese Empire and the Soviet Union would end.

But unlike the trade between the British and French Entente and the Soviet Union, Britain and France gave supplies to the Soviet Union almost without compensation, which Hitler could not tolerate, because this would go on endlessly. Hitler had no hope but to intercept with all his might.

But the German Navy made a mistake, in the past few years of war, the British Navy has not dared to fight the main force of the German Navy, and even the number of head-to-head confrontations is limited. Since the naval battle between Bismarck and Hood, which was entangled between Britain and France, the British and German navies have chosen not to provoke each other as much as possible. The German Navy seemed to be arrogant, believing that the British Navy would not dare to engage the German Navy, so Frederick the Great and Wilhelm II, which had just undergone an upgrade of their anti-aircraft weapon systems, went to the Arctic Ocean alone to carry out combat missions without waiting for the other sister ships to complete the refit.

After receiving the information, the British Royal Navy decided to carry out an attack operation on this fleet, which was not escorted by aircraft carriers.

To this end, Admiral Edmund, commander of the British Royal Navy, personally commanded four Great Britain Ultimate battleships (HMS England, USS Scotland, HMS Wales, HMS Northern Ireland (formerly HMS Ireland)) with 20-inch guns, two Queen Elizabeth-class super battleships (HMS Emperor of India, HMS Sultan) with 18-inch guns, four Nelson-class battleships (USS Nelson, HMS Warweary, HMS Warrior and HMS Revenge) with 16-inch guns, as well as four Linsen-class light cruisers and seven submarines.

In terms of aircraft carriers, Admiral Edmund brought 7 capital aircraft carriers, namely USS Fury, USS Brave, USS Glory, USS Ark Royal, USS Radiance and USS Victory, and 4 escort aircraft carriers USS Senza, USS Centaur, USS Athletic, and USS Barrier.

The 11 aircraft carriers carried a total of more than 590 aircraft, including 270 F4A carrier-based fighters, 250 torpedo attack aircraft, 50 Lancaster light bombers, and 20 Mosquito reconnaissance aircraft.

On the evening of 25 November, a British Navy Mosquito reconnaissance plane spotted the German fleet in the northeast of the North Sea, about 60 nautical miles southwest of Norway.

At this time, this German fleet was commanded by Vice Admiral Kred. After receiving the report, Cred was not interested in the British mosquito, and it was not until the other party had been following for more than an hour that Cred sent two seaplanes to drive it away.

At this time, Cred still did not raise his alert, he did not believe that the nearby British Navy had arrived to warn the tiger's whiskers. However, just in case, he also dispersed more than 20 submarines with him within about 50 nautical miles of the core of the fleet for a vigilant voyage.

After receiving the intelligence of the reconnaissance plane, Admiral Edmund immediately judged the route and destination of the German fleet, and soon he guessed that the German fleet was going to the Arctic Ocean to break diplomatic relations, so he immediately ordered the whole fleet to enter a combat state and prepare to intercept the German fleet.

On the night of the 25th, the British and German fleets moved in the opposite direction, and both sides moved at a high speed. The German fleet wanted to reach the Arctic Ocean theater as soon as possible and join the German navy there. The British fleet, on the other hand, wanted to intercept the German fleet before sunrise.

After a full night of competitive sailing, the Anglo-German fleet arrived at Jutland at sunrise the next day.

When he learned that it was Jutland, Admiral Edmund was in his spirits, and he vowed to make the German Navy pay the blood debt of the last Battle of Jutland. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point () to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. )