Since mankind entered the 20th century, with the progress of shipbuilding technology and the advent of the era of internal combustion engines, the arms race between the navies of major powers has intensified. Before the last world war, the direct expression of the Anglo-German struggle for hegemony was the arms race at sea, which eventually led to a war and formed the current world pattern.

Thirty years later, the main theme of the naval war evolved into a pattern of German and Austrian confrontation with the United States and Britain, and the Americans replaced the British as the protagonists of the other side of the maritime hegemony. Although the Japanese navy has a good strength, due to the limitations of resources and industrial capacity, it is not really able to compete with these old maritime powers. So when the war came again, the powerful fleets of the two major military blocs fought again for the sole winner......

About 70 nautical miles southeast of Iceland in the North Atlantic Ocean.

After completing the tactical turn, the commander of the German-Austrian Navy's North Atlantic Combined Fleet, Luca Brown. The Austro-Hungarian fleet, commanded by Admiral Wagner, turned its bow back to the southwest, preparing to hold off enemy reinforcements from North America. Two "Combined Forces class" and two "Austrian-class" battleships, two "Romanian-class", two improved "Zeppelin" class plus "von? There are six aircraft carriers, the "Archduchess Golden" and "Attila", and almost all the main warships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the European fleet are currently pouring out.

After the battle began, the entire fleet wandered around the waters southeast of Iceland for three days without any incident, and the attention of the U.S. Air Force around Reykjavik was attracted to the German landing force and engaged in a battle in the air with the German fleet under the command of Admiral Lukins. At present, except for the P40, most of the fighters equipped by the US Air Force cannot compete with the German fighters, and the losses of the Germans are far less than that of the US Air Force.

Here is the intended ambush point, about 280 nautical miles from Reykjavik, if the reinforced American fleet arrives. You can immediately attack the enemy.

By Oscar? The German Atlantic Fleet, led by Admiral Kumetz, set off from the Bay of Biscay, also hurried to the battlefield. General Kumetz's flagship, the Schleswig-Holstein, was moving at full speed on the black water, and the bow of the ship was stirring with white waves, and finally came into the sight of the Austro-Hungarian fleet.

The arrival of the German fleet strengthened the ambush fleet even more, no matter what. Having warships join the fleet is always a big hit. At the moment the entire German-Austrian combined fleet Lucca. Admiral Wagner was in charge of the overall command, and for the next three days, the two task forces circled the sea, and the weather at sea was changing from good to bad. In the rear of the Austro-Hungarian fleet, Oscar? Admiral Kumetz led the main force of the German Atlantic Fleet, consisting of the aircraft carriers "Prince Albert" and "Fokk", the battleship "Marshal Hindenburg" and the heavy cruisers "Moltke" and "Lützov".

Due to the deterrence of the US Atlantic Fleet, Germany and Austria did not dare to risk sending their main fleet to the Pacific theater. In fact, the main German-Austrian forces, which were based on the Norwegian coast, the Bay of Biscay, and Gibraltar, had almost nothing to do in the past year, except for the task of carrying out the naval blockade of the British, and they had also become a "storage fleet."

There was a drizzle on the sea, but the wind and waves were not too strong, and the American fleet was sailing in formation to Iceland, and the battleship "North Carolina" was flying the flag of the fleet commander, Admiral Ingram. In the gloomy sky after the rain, fragments of the sunset are just beginning to shimmer golden behind the clouds.

The entire U.S. fleet bypassed the Cape Recha Peninsula and entered the F. Farkshay Bay.

On the orders of the Chief of Staff of the Fleet, Rear Admiral Hewitt. The signal flag fluttered on the signal mast of the "North Carolina": the whole formation entered Keflavik Bay!

The large task force quickly switched positions and dropped anchor in a formation outside the port of Keflavik. Aircraft carriers of the fleet, fast battleships of the latest commissions, cruisers, destroyers, minesweepers, auxiliary ships. All of them were lined up in an anti-aircraft formation in the Gulf of Iceland, more than 3,000 miles away from the United States.

Due to the previous rain, the reconnaissance aircraft of the Germans were not found, but as soon as the fleet was stationed, Admiral Ingram ordered a meeting on the flagship. On the dreary sea in the evening, black motorboats with white stars on a blue background fluttering the naval flag carried the admirals. Sail through the white waters to the side of the North Carolina for the meeting.

In a short time, the admirals in stiff khaki uniforms were already sitting on either side of the long green table in the conference room in the stern cabin of "North Carolina". Colonel Hank, an army intelligence officer stationed in Iceland, and representatives of the Air Force also arrived.

Rear Admiral Hewitt, the chief of staff of the fleet, stood in front of a huge map of the North Atlantic with a whip in his hand, recounting the latest information received in the past few days. The shape shì is clearly unfavorable to the Americans. The S-123 and S-42 submarines found reinforcements for the German-Austrian fleet about 150 nautical miles southeast of Iceland, and it became clear that the enemy was almost twice as strong as the American fleet.

Nearly half of the air force planes stationed in Iceland had been consumed in a week's worth of fighting, and the Germans were ramping up the construction of field airfields in northeastern Iceland, and some of their army fighters had already begun to move to the island. As far as the situation is concerned, it is already an impossible task to drive the Germans out of here, the Germans are much closer to here than the United States, and in these ten days or so, another army division has landed on the island, and the German army in Iceland has reached 70,000 men, while the American side has only one 24th Infantry Division and a Marine Brigade, which is less than half the strength of the enemy.

Next, Ingram talked about the military operation, and he read aloud the order given by the commander of the Atlantic Fleet, Admiral Ingnoor. The main force of the Atlantic Fleet was ordered to cover and support the forces stationed in Iceland "to drive out the threat of the German fleet as much as possible, but with the primary goal of preserving the fleet." He read these instructions smoothly, and it was clear that the fleet commander did not want a desperate decisive battle with the Germans now, and the US Navy was not ready, especially when the strength was clearly inferior to the enemy.

General Ingram frowned, and the shape was very unfavorable to him. The outcome of this naval battle depends on four factors: the comparison of forces between the two sides, the operational command of the two sides, and the other two are at the strategic level: overall strategic and geographical factors.

Needless to say, Iceland was crucial to the maritime posture of both warring sides, but it was much closer to the Norwegian coast than North America. A decisive naval battle with the German Navy was fought here, and Germany and Austria would soon be able to send reinforcements from Europe, which would definitely be to the detriment of the US Navy.

Generally speaking, even if the US Navy is fully armed, it is not enough to fully compete with the German-Austrian fleet, and judging from the current situation, the wise choice is to abandon this place for the time being. But here it involves domestic personnel factors, as well as the thoughts of the commander-in-chief of the Navy, General Kim.

In the year following the start of the war, the German-Austrian fleet was victorious at sea. In the Southeast Asian theater, the Japanese Navy lost five major aircraft carriers, which led to the fall of all of Southeast Asia, including the Philippines. MacArthur put the blame for the fall of the Philippines on the Navy, and now the Allies, including Australia, are in a state of panic.

In the Russian theater, the Axis forces were attacking the Soviets on all fronts, and Zhuashvili was struggling to support it, and repeatedly threatened that if the United States did not launch a counteroffensive against Germany and Austria, he would make peace with the Axis powers alone. It is hard to imagine how the Americans could stand alone against an Axis attack without the Russians.

General Ingram was hesitant to advise Washington to retreat from here for the time being. (To be continued......)